(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Hermes Rivera Guerrero, detained on 18 May 1992 by a special task force of the police (Policía Técnica, PT) in Jaén, was freed on 16 April 2001. Rivera was pardoned by the 11 April resolution No.158-2001-JUS. The Commission for Pardons, Clemency Rights and Commutation of Sentences (Comision de Indulto, Derecho de Gracia […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Hermes Rivera Guerrero, detained on 18 May 1992 by a special task force of the police (Policía Técnica, PT) in Jaén, was freed on 16 April 2001. Rivera was pardoned by the 11 April resolution No.158-2001-JUS.
The Commission for Pardons, Clemency Rights and Commutation of Sentences (Comision de Indulto, Derecho de Gracia y Conmutacion de Penas) examining cases of terrorism and treason, created by Decree Nº003-2000-JUS, recommended that Rivera be pardoned. The commission found that Article 1 of law No. 26655 is applicable to his case.
Before his imprisonment, Rivera was the director of a programme broadcast on Radio Oriental in Jaén and organisation secretary of Jaén’s Civil Defence Patrols (Rondas Campesinas). In 1992, he was accused of being a Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) member by PT Officer Idelfonso Ugarte Valdivia and prosecuted for participating in insurrectionist activities. On a number of occasions, Rivera had denounced Ugarte for abuse of power.
Although the court case showed that there was insufficient evidence, Rivera was nevertheless accused of having committed terrorist acts and sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. He was carrying out his term in the Pisci prison in Chiclayo.
IPYS, Amnesty International and other press freedom organisations demanded that Rivera be freed, considering him innocent of the charges brought against him.
