(AMARC/IFEX) – The defamation case against two journalists from San Miguel community radio station will go to court after the journalists refused to retract statements regarding allegations of police involvement in smuggling operations. “We are defending the right to information and the right to communicate, that is why we refused to retract our statements,” Suyapa […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – The defamation case against two journalists from San Miguel community radio station will go to court after the journalists refused to retract statements regarding allegations of police involvement in smuggling operations.
“We are defending the right to information and the right to communicate, that is why we refused to retract our statements,” Suyapa Banegas and Carlos Galeas said at the conclusion of a reconciliation hearing held at a court in Marcala, southern Honduras, on 18 February 2005. In addition to being a member of San Miguel radio, Banegas is also AMARC’s national representative in Honduras.
The journalists were summoned by the local judicial authorities after a complaint was launched against them by a public prosecutor and local police commanders.
“What is being forgotten here is the fact that illegal activities have take place. With this complaint, they are trying to create a smoke screen,” Banegas told AMARC’s Agencia Púlsar.
The journalists’ sources, National Preventive Police (Policía Nacional Preventiva) officers Orlando Arguet, Mauro Molina and Carminda Urquía, who were also named in the complaint, were present at the hearing as well. Like the journalists, they refused to retract their statements.
The reports on smuggling were based on several testimonies in addition to information on operations carried out by the army’s Tenth Infantry Batallion. “With this evidence, they should investigate the police,” Banegas said.
A court date has not yet been set.
