IFEX-ALC expresses its solidarity with Roberto Deniz and the Armando.info investigative journalism portal, as both are being subjected to harassment and judicial persecution.
The actions against Deniz and Armando.info form part of a pattern of persecution of journalists and media outlets in Venezuela, with state officials subjecting them to legal proceedings and stigmatising, intimidating and threatening discourse.
On 15 October 2021, an arrest warrant was issued for Roberto Deniz for allegedly “committing the crime of incitement to hatred”. The warrant included a request for the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) to issue a “red notice” for Deniz’s arrest.
The journalist’s family home in Caracas was raided on the same day the warrant was issued. Members of the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Corps (Cuerpo de Investigaciones, Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas, CICPC) arrived at the journalist’s home in an unmarked vehicle, and Deniz’s brother was taken to police headquarters and questioned by CICPC officials in the absence of his lawyers.
The accusation against Deniz forms part of a pattern based on application of Venezuela’s “anti-hate law”, which is being used in a discretionary manner to punish and hinder the expression of viewpoints that criticise state authorities or comment on issues of public interest.
Roberto Deniz and the Armando.info portal have been targeted with an intense campaign aimed at persecuting, discrediting and criminalising them on social media platforms. The campaign has been orchestrated from Twitter accounts associated with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Deniz was even subjected to identity impersonation on his Twitter account in an attempt to discredit his investigative work.
In 2018 Deniz, together with Ewald Scherfenberg, Alfredo Meza and Joseph Poliszuk (editors and founders of Armando.info), had to leave Venezuela after being sued for defamation and associated injuries, crimes that entail prison sentences of up to six years. The lawsuit was brought forward by businessman Alex Saab’s lawyers.
In February 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures for Deniz’s relatives in Venezuela after determining that they were at risk of suffering harm in reprisal for the journalist’s investigative worked published on Armando.info since 2014.
We, as IFEX-ALC member organisations, call on the Venezuelan authorities to stop the harassment of Roberto Deniz and the Armando.info portal. In addition, we call for guarantees to be provided for the safety and security of Deniz, his family and all other Armando.info journalists, taking into account the risks they face linked to the campaigns that have taken place to discredit and criminalise the journalists’ activities.
We also bring the harassment and persecution of Deniz and his family, as well as the entire Armando.info journalism team that continues to carry out its investigative reporting in Venezuela, to the attention of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the IACHR and United Nations Offices of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, as well as other international and multi-lateral organisations.
We are concerned about the consequences these actions could have, including the possibility of physical attacks that pose a threat to the freedom, physical security and even the lives of those who are targeted.
The illegitimate application of a law to justify actions such as those outlined above represents a serious threat to freedom of expression and sets a dangerous precedent for the region.
