(IPYS/IFEX) – On the morning of October 31, 2005, José Calero Luis, a journalist for Antena 31 television station, was insulted and thrown out of the offices of the National Office for Electoral Processes (Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, ONPE) in Huánuco by the head of that body, Marco Antonio Montalvo Torres, and other personnel. […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the morning of October 31, 2005, José Calero Luis, a journalist for Antena 31 television station, was insulted and thrown out of the offices of the National Office for Electoral Processes (Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, ONPE) in Huánuco by the head of that body, Marco Antonio Montalvo Torres, and other personnel. The journalist had gone to the ONPE offices to request an interview with Montalvo. The incident occurred in Huánuco region in central Peru.
The journalist told IPYS that after identifying himself at the entrance of the ONPE, he went to Montalvo’s office to ask him to comment on the alleged theft of voters’ registration lists in the region’s rural areas, which were to have been used in the October 30 referendum. According to Calero, the official started to insult him for no reason, demanded that he stop recording and, aided by the administrative personnel, forced him out of the premises.
When asked by IPYS about the incident, Montalvo denied having insulted or assaulted the journalist and said that he had simply asked him to leave, promising to grant him an interview later as he was busy at that moment. However, Montalvo claimed that Calero had insisted and ended up having an altercation with an ONPE official, which resulted the journalist being forced to leave. According to IPYS’s correspondent in the city, Montalvo has imposed a number of restrictions which are hindering the press from reporting freely on the referendum.
