(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 16 November 2006 IAPA press release: Damages award against Peru TV station raises IAPA concern MIAMI, Florida (November 16, 2006) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at a court order for a television station in Peru to pay the government what the free-press organization called […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 16 November 2006 IAPA press release:
Damages award against Peru TV station raises IAPA concern
MIAMI, Florida (November 16, 2006) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at a court order for a television station in Peru to pay the government what the free-press organization called disproportionate damages that, if upheld, would put the station’s operations in jeopardy.
The Anti-Corruption Court in early August held América Televisión-Canal 4, operated by Compañía Peruana de Radiodifusión S.A., to be civilly liable as a third party in a lawsuit against the station’s former owners, José Enrique and José Fransico Crousillat. The two were found guilty of complicity in embezzlement and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and payment of compensation to the government of the equivalent of almost $50 million, an order that has been extended to the current owners.
The court order against América Televisión, currently in appeal, was made despite the fact that expert witnesses testified that a bribe that the government gave the Crousillats, via Vladimiro Montesinos, had never reached the television station. It was also demonstrated that none of the current shareholders and executives had any part in the criminal plan, which in fact they had fought against in their respective news media outlets.
Gonzalo Marroquín, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, said, “We regard this damages award to be disproportionate to those ordered in similar cases. If the award is upheld, it could jeopardize the television station’s very existence, which would be contrary to the principle of freedom of the press and it full observance.”
Marroquín, editor of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, daily newspaper Prensa Libre, added, “We trust that the relevant authorities will take note of this concern and in resolving the matter set a precedent that guarantees press freedom.”
