(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 1 August 2000 IAPA press release: IAPA CALLS FOR PROBE IN URUGUAY INTO DISCRIMINATION IN AD PLACEMENTS AND REJECTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST JOURNALIST MIAMI, Florida (August 1st, 2000) – The Inter American Press Association called on the Uruguayan government and judiciary to halt discriminating in the placement of official advertising […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 1 August 2000 IAPA press release:
IAPA CALLS FOR PROBE IN URUGUAY INTO DISCRIMINATION IN AD PLACEMENTS AND REJECTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST JOURNALIST
MIAMI, Florida (August 1st, 2000) – The Inter American Press Association called on the Uruguayan government and judiciary to halt discriminating in the placement of official advertising in the local media. The Executive Committee of the hemispheric free-press organization made the call at its quarterly meeting here. It urged a speedy official investigation into the discriminatory practices, to put an end to them.
It also expressed support for IAPA First Vice President Danilo Arbilla, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, who has been accused, without any basis or evidence, of laundering drug money in what the organization sees as a crude smear campaign by certain media in Uruguay to discredit him.
The IAPA said it wished to stress the seriousness of recent events that have led to the illegal tapping of telephones of a news outlet denounced by the reporters themselves.
The IAPA officers have been closely watching all the developments concerning Arbilla, but have been careful not to interfere in any legal actions, thus heeding Arbilla’s own wishes in this regard, by trusting the Uruguayan authorities and judiciary.
Considering that the judiciary decided to withdraw all charges and close all investigations against Arbilla in light of the groundless accusations against him, the trust placed on the Uruguayan officials has proven to be right. This trust was also confirmed by the fact that the executive branch of government has adhered to the principle of protecting the rights of citizens and punishing the responsible public officials involved.
IAPA President Tony Pederson, Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas, said that “historically, personal attacks on those who defend press freedom have been common, even expected. We can only speculate on the motives of these dreadful lies and horrendous innuendoes that have been spread about Danilo Arbilla.”
“It hardly matters,” Pederson added, “the truth always prevails in the end, and those who seek it. Danilo is a distinguished journalist and a vigorous defender of press freedom. He is a credible and trustworthy colleague and a friend of all of us in the IAPA and he will continue in leadership and be an excellent president come this October.”
But even though the situation has been clarified in the above-mentioned terms, the IAPA insists on the need for legal actions to continue and a speed-up in efforts to shed light on the extreme aspects of this incredible defamatory plan, which can only be achieved by fully exposing the maneuver, identifying those responsible, meting out criminal punishment to them and awarding damages to the victims.
In light of this, the IAPA again puts its trust in the Uruguayan government in the sense that it will not allow any kind of delay or deviation that might attempt to truncate or bury this process, whose total elucidation is absolutely essential to guarantee citizens’ rights and for the triumph of justice.
The libels, the sham crime, the abuse of power and the interference of any kind in telephone services are very serious matters and offenses that go beyond individual or specific cases and national borders because they are actions that conspire against the universal inherent freedoms and rights of mankind, all of which justifies this action of our Association and the decision to do whatever is necessary in pursuit of the conviction and punishment of this kind of attack.
