Journalist denounces attempt to arrest her

(IPYS/IFEX) – Venezuelan journalist Ibéyise Pacheco denounced attempts by police to arrest her on 11 March 2003, while she was working at the Kyss FM radio station in Caracas. Pacheco is director of the daily “Así es la Noticia”, a columnist for the daily “El Nacional” and host of a Kyss FM radio programme. She […]

(IPYS/IFEX) – Venezuelan journalist Ibéyise Pacheco denounced attempts by police to arrest her on 11 March 2003, while she was working at the Kyss FM radio station in Caracas.

Pacheco is director of the daily “Así es la Noticia”, a columnist for the daily “El Nacional” and host of a Kyss FM radio programme. She reported that officers from the Scientific and Criminal Investigations Unit (Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas, CICPC) and the Directorate of Police Intelligence Services (Direccion de Servicios de Inteligencia Policial, DISIP) surrounded the radio station, intending to arrest her.

According to Pacheco, the police arrived at the scene in ten patrol cars. They proceeded to search vehicles in the area and closed the street on which the radio station is located.

The officers did not enter the radio station, nor did they present an arrest warrant. Minutes after they arrived, neighbours came to show support for the journalist.

“We realised that they were looking for me, but they did not offer any explanation for the size of the police presence. Neighbours reported that some of the police were carrying shotguns. They did not show a warrant,” Pacheco stated.

Although police authorities have not publicly announced their intention to detain the journalist, Juan Barreto, member of parliament for the ruling party and president of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology and Communication Committee, said there is an arrest warrant for Pacheco for failing to appear in court. He explained that Pacheco is facing 16 charges in a number of civil courts “for the alleged misuse of journalism and for altering information to the detriment of people’s reputation.”

The journalist said that a number of complaints have been filed against her, including one by National Guard Colonel Ángel Vellorí and another lodged by a group of university students. State corporation Petroleos de Venezuela President Alí Rodríguez Araque filed a complaint against Pacheco after she alleged that Rodríguez had hired his son to work in the corporation, whereas in reality his son had died some time ago. The daily “El Nacional” publicly apologised to the petroleum expert for Pacheco’s column.

During the last week of February, Pacheco was summoned by the Caracas’s Public Prosecutor’s 62nd Office, presided by Sonia Buznego. Pacheco was called to testify in the case of an article, whose authorship has yet to be determined, published by the state news agencyVenpres, in which she and three other journalists are accused of having connections with drug trafficking. At that time, rumours circulated that the journalist would be arrested. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has, however, clarified that she was to be questioned “as a victim” and not as the accused.

The Pacheco case will be discussed in the National Assembly, following a 12 March request by opposition Member of Parliament Alberto Jordán Hernández to the National Assembly’s Science, Technology and Communication Committee to investigate the incident.

Jordán asked the media subcommittee “to ensure that Pacheco will be able to practice her profession at the radio station and the newspaper she directs.”

Member of Parliament Barreto supported the request, saying that the case should be included in the investigation the partliamentary committee will undertake on cases of attacks on journalists. He also urged that the Pacheco case “not constitute a blow against freedom of expression.”

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