(IPYS/IFEX) – On 27 October 1999, Hugo Borjas, the former editor of the “El Chato” daily’s police news, was kidnapped by unknown individuals who forced him to enter an automobile and threatened him with a knife to “be quiet”. Borjas’ colleague, Richard Molinares, informed IPYS of the incident. The threats apparently alluded to Borjas’ recent […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 27 October 1999, Hugo Borjas, the former editor of the “El
Chato” daily’s police news, was kidnapped by unknown individuals who forced
him to enter an automobile and threatened him with a knife to “be quiet”.
Borjas’ colleague, Richard Molinares, informed IPYS of the incident. The
threats apparently alluded to Borjas’ recent accusation that the government
was financing the daily to publish defamatory statements against the main
presidential candidates for the opposition.
According to Molinares, former “El Chato” editor-in-chief, Borjas was
kidnapped from in front of the National Journalists Association (Asociacion
Nacional de Periodistas, ANP) offices, in Lima. He was kept captive inside
the vehicle from between 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (local time), and was then
abandoned without any money or his papers by a business centre in the San
Miguel district.
Background Information
On 22 October 1999, a number of former employees of the sensationalist daily
“El Chato” revealed that for the last ten months, Rafael Documet, the
daily’s owner, has been paid US$180,000 a month to publish headlines and
offensive articles directed against opposition politicians and journalists.
The employees also stated that they were owed payment of their salaries.
According to Molinares, the editorial office was aware that Augusto Bresani,
public relations expert linked to the government and the Armed Forces, sent
the headlines to Documet every day. Quoted in “La República” newspaper,
Molinares stated that Documet would personally hand him the accusatory
headlines and ask him to write the corresponding article. In cases where the
accusations could not be supported by any actual events, Molinares or other
journalists were expected to invent them.
Borjas had confirmed Bresani’s role as an intermediary between the
government and Documet in a campaign to discredit opposition politicians
and journalists. “There is no doubt that Augusto Bresani is behind this,
because on a number of occasions I received faxes with his surname,” Borjas
noted.
Borjas further stated that the headlines were initially sent by fax to press
director Rubén Gamarra Garay but this was later changed. After a number of
other media published reports on Bresani’s relationship with sensationalist
Lima dailies, contact was made directly with the “El Chato” owner.
According to Molinares, for a while Bresani would call between 7:00 p.m. and
11:00 p.m. (local time), and dictate the headlines over the phone. Documet
would then give Molinares the notes he had made outlining the following
day’s headline. Finally, during the last month, envelopes containing a hard
copy of the headlines were regularly sent to the daily’s offices. Some of
these papers have been shown to the press by the daily’s former employees.
Rosario Rojas, in charge of “El Chato”‘s filing system, informed IPYS that
she had heard Documet say that the headlines were coming from a government
source. Rojas explained that the businessman referred to the headlines as
“advisory notices”, alluding to the fact that certain government advice
would improve the company’s financial state.
An “El Chato” employee who had previously worked for “El Tío” – another
tabloid known for its attacks of opposition politicians and journalists-
stated that each day he would pick up an envelope containing the next day’s
headlines and a diskette with a caricature discrediting the “La República”
director, Gustavo Mohme Llona, that would be appear on the cover page.
The “El Chato” daily receives very little income from advertising (at most,
two advertisements for companies owned by Documet’s relatives appear in each
edition). The daily is sold for 0.50 soles (approx. US$0.14). Molinares
stated that, according to the accountant, “El Chato” is operating at a loss.
Nevetheless, Documet is having a third floor added to the company building
to house his new business of erotic telephone calls, for which he has
apparently contracted thirty telephone lines.
Borjas noted that Documet personally oversees the daily’s layout. Hilmer
Vásquez, one of the graphic artists, noted that “He tells me how to do the
design. With a large font, which covers almost all of the cover page,”
adding that they would often have to wait for hours for the insulting
headline to arrive before they could work on the cover page.
When a number of journalists and graphic artists protested that they had not
been paid, José Documet, the owner’s son, threatened them with a revolver
and verbally assaulted them, forcing them to leave the premises. He further
videotaped each one of them as they were being interviewed by “La República”
newspaper for an article on their case.
Molinares, Borjas and Rojas expressed their fears that they would face
repression, after unknown individuals called their houses asking for them
and then hanging up. Borjas informed “La República” that, fifteen minutes
after he had left his house, two vans stopped in front of the house and a
young man got out to look for him. The man identified himself as a
journalist but did not give his name.
As a result, the former “El Chato” employees urged the office of the
ombudsman to guarantee their safety and asked independent organisations like
IPYS and the Association for Human Rights (Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos,
Aprodeh), for support.
After “La República” published the journalists’ statements, “El Chato”
published an article referring to them as “agitators” and attacking “La
República”. In a 24 October notice, the Editora e Impresora El Gigante S. A.
company, which publishes “El Chato”, threatened to charge Mohme’s newspaper
with acting “against honour” for having printed the former employees’
version of events. The notice points out that “El Chato” Director Gamarra
and the board of directors are responsible for the daily’s contents.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
at
the journalists
journalists’ safety be guaranteed
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of Congress
Fax: +51 1 426 8290Edgardo Mosqueira Medina
Minister of the Presidency
Fax: +51 222 3678Miguel Aljovín Swayne
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474César Saucedo Sánchez
Minister of the Interior
Fax: +51 1 224 2405Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
