(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 21 October 2003, journalist César Hildebrandt, host of “En la boca del lobo” programme, broadcast on Frecuencia Latina Canal 2 television station, denounced the existence of a plan to put Baruch Ivcher Bronstein, the station’s majority shareholder, and the television’s reporters under surveillance. Hildebrandt presented as evidence a 3 […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the night of 21 October 2003, journalist César Hildebrandt, host of “En la boca del lobo” programme, broadcast on Frecuencia Latina Canal 2 television station, denounced the existence of a plan to put Baruch Ivcher Bronstein, the station’s majority shareholder, and the television’s reporters under surveillance.
Hildebrandt presented as evidence a 3 August document by the army’s Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejército, SIE). The journalist accused General Roberto Chiabra León, the armed forces’ commander-in-chief, of having approved the plan.
According to the document, the authenticity of which has not been acknowledged by the authorities, “the special intelligence operation will consist of following Frecuencia Latina’s reporters and the station’s majority shareholder to monitor any contact they may have with members of the armed forces or police, civilians, opposition members of congress and government officials”.
The document adds that intelligence agents “will be assigned to strategic locations near the station and Ivcher’s and the journalists’ homes. The agents will closely monitor the employees’ movements, while remaining undetected.”
Among the reasons for justification of the surveillance is an allegation that Ivcher “is permitting the broadcast of programmes that have reported on the content of secret documents and revealed pseudonyms and other classified information”. This is seen as a threat to the armed forces and national security.
According to Hildebrandt, the plan was created following the 20 October edition of his programme, during which photographs of high-ranking military officials dressed in womens’ clothing were shown. On the same day, Hildebrandt reported on a 3 September document that referred to a warrant for the arrest of Colonel Ollanta Humala Tasso. The colonel is currently on a diplomatic mission with the Peruvian Embassy in France.
Hildebrandt reported that the photographs were taken from a family album and later published in a bi-weekly newspaper headed by former military officer Antauro Humala, Colonel Ollanta Humala’s brother. According to Hildebrandt, the matter stems from a conflict between the two brothers.
On 14 September, journalist Cecilia Valenzuela, of “La ventana indiscreta” programme, also broadcast on Canal 2, accused Admiral Alfonso Panizo, head of the National Intelligence Council (Consejo Nacional de Inteligencia, CNI), of having ordered that her news team be put under surveillance. Panizo acknowledged that the reports presented on the programme were authentic and admitted that a surveillance plan had been put into action, to establish how “false information was being leaked to her reporters” (see IFEX alert of 18 September 2003).
