(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 7 March 2003 letter to Chihuahua State Governor Patricio MartÃnez GarcÃa, CPJ strongly protested the detention of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide, who was charged with criminal defamation on 23 December 2002, by Chihuahua State Attorney General Jesús SolÃs Silva. Arvide, a Mexico City-based journalist and author who has written many exposés […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 7 March 2003 letter to Chihuahua State Governor Patricio MartÃnez GarcÃa, CPJ strongly protested the detention of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide, who was charged with criminal defamation on 23 December 2002, by Chihuahua State Attorney General Jesús SolÃs Silva.
Arvide, a Mexico City-based journalist and author who has written many exposés about drug traffickers, corruption and violence, as well as the book “Muerte en Juárez” (“Death in Juarez”), was detained at around 5 p.m. (local time) on 4 March, in Chihuahua City, where she is required to appear every two weeks before Judge Octavio RodrÃguez Gaytán, of the Second Penal Court, in connection with another criminal defamation complaint filed against her in 2002.
According to Arvide’s son Bruno Cárcamo Arvide, the journalist was never notified that SolÃs had filed a suit against her. She had just finished eating at a local restaurant before leaving for the airport when about 20 Chihuahua State police agents arrested her.
Arvide told CPJ that she spent around 24 hours isolated in a cell at Chihuahuaâs Social Rehabilitation Center before being released on bail, which was set at 200,000 Mexican pesos (approx. US$20,000), at around 7 p.m. on 5 March. Arvide then flew to Mexico City. On 7 March she was to appear in court in Chihuahua so that her detention order and her release on bail could be formally announced. Under Mexicoâs Criminal Code, Arvide faces six months to two years in prison if convicted.
Attorney General SolÃs’ suit stems from a 2 June 2001 article by Arvide that appeared on the journalistâs Web site, www.isabelarvide.com, and in the Mexico City daily Milenio. The piece alleged that a number of state government officials, including SolÃs, and newspaper publisher Osvaldo RodrÃguez Borunda, had organized a new drug cartel in Chihuahua.
This is not the first time that Arvide has been detained for criminal defamation. On 16 August 2002, Chihuahua State police arrested Arvide after RodrÃguez Borunda, owner of Editora Paso del Norte, a publishing company that owns the Chihuahua dailies “El Diario de Chihuahua” and “El Diario de Juárez”, filed a criminal defamation suit against her in connection to the June 2001 article. Borunda requested 50 million pesos (approx. US$5,000,000) in “moral damages”. Arvide was released more than 24 hours later, after paying a bail of 100,000 Mexican pesos (approx. US$10,000). She must appear before Judge RodrÃguez Gaytán every 15 days and sign a court record while her trial continues.
Arvide, who needs judicial authorization to leave the country, must make frequent trips to Chihuahua. Travel costs and high legal expenses have strained her resources and hampered her journalistic work. In December 2002, Judge RodrÃguez Gaytán rejected an injunction she filed in August 2002 against the arrest warrant and the detention order against her.
Arvide filed an appeal at the end of December, and on 20 February 2003, a federal judge annulled her detention order and ordered Judge RodrÃguez Gaytán to review his ruling. On 4 March, hours before her second arrest, she was informed that Judge RodrÃguez Gaytán had upheld her detention order. Arvide plans to file a second appeal.
The journalist fears that she may be jailed at any moment since the Chihuahua State Attorney Generalâs Office has asked that her bail be revoked because she is a repeat offender.
CPJ believes that journalists should never be criminally prosecuted for their work. There is a growing international consensus that civil penalties are adequate redress in defamation cases. Furthermore, as a government official, Attorney General SolÃs must tolerate public scrutiny of his activities and should only be entitled to legal recourse if he can demonstrate that a journalist published a defamatory falsehood with the intention of causing him harm. That the latest criminal defamation lawsuit against Arvide has been filed by SolÃs can only have a chilling effect on the dissemination of news that criticizes Chihuahua state authorities.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Chihuahua state governor:
– urging him to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists are able to report without fear of being subjected to prosecution on criminal defamation charges in Chihuahua
Appeals To
Patricio MartÃnez GarcÃa
Chihuahua State Governor
Palacio de Gobierno
Calle Aldama No. 901, Col. Centro, C.P. 31000
Chihuahua, Chihuahua
Mexico
Fax: +52 614 429 3464
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
