(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC welcomes the 31 January 2004 release of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi. He is the last of the print journalists summarily sentenced in the 1990s for alleged terrorist offences to be released. Jara Berrospi was arrested on 10 July 1993, reportedly tortured, and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in September […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC welcomes the 31 January 2004 release of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi. He is the last of the print journalists summarily sentenced in the 1990s for alleged terrorist offences to be released.
Jara Berrospi was arrested on 10 July 1993, reportedly tortured, and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in September 1994. He was convicted of collaborating with the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrilla group, by a “faceless tribunal” (presided over by a judge whose identity was kept hidden) as established under the regime of former president Alberto Fujimori (see IFEX alert of 20 October 1997). The main evidence against the journalist was his possession of maps showing where nine students and professors of La Cantuta University had been massacred and buried by the Peruvian military. Jara Berrospi always attested that the maps were already in the public domain and that he was using them for a journalistic investigation. However, the sentence was ratified by the Supreme Court in May 1996.
A new law enacted in 2003 reduced the sentences of the vast majority of those condemned by the so-called “faceless judges” to a maximum of six years. Since Jara Berrospi had already been in prison for 10 years, a hearing into his case was opened in November 2003.
However, rather than merely being released because of the time he had served in prison, Jara Berrospi was eventually acquitted of all charges against him and released the same day.
Jara Berrospi’s journalistic career included work with Radio Comas, the dailies “El Diario” and “El Heraldo Huanuqueno”, and the magazine “El Informador”. During his imprisonment, he was elected an honorary member of PEN USA West.
