(FLIP/IFEX) – On 30 November 2003, Ricardo Perea Vargas, a journalist for the environmental issues magazine “Regeneracción”, was detained by officers of the National Police’s intelligence unit (Seccional de Inteligencia Judicial Investigativa de la Policía Nacional, SIJIN) at a checkpoint close to Los Patios municipality, in Norte de Santander department. According to information obtained by […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 30 November 2003, Ricardo Perea Vargas, a journalist for the environmental issues magazine “Regeneracción”, was detained by officers of the National Police’s intelligence unit (Seccional de Inteligencia Judicial Investigativa de la Policía Nacional, SIJIN) at a checkpoint close to Los Patios municipality, in Norte de Santander department.
According to information obtained by FLIP, the journalist was detained together with four other individuals when they were returning from the First Bolivarian Congress of the People, which was hosted by the Venezuelan government. According to a police bulletin, the detainees were charged with “rebellion” and “possessing materials alluding to illegal armed groups”.
The police confiscated CDs, video cassettes and brochures that allegedly referred to the Bolivarian Liberation Forces and written materials reportedly alluding to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC). They also seized Venezuelan publications from the detainees.
Perea and the other four detainees are being held at the SIJIN’s prison by order of the Los Patios Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Francisco Restrepo, of “Regeneracción” magazine, said that Perea writes articles about the environment, globalisation, culture and technology. He was in Venezuela to report on the event.
FLIP calls upon the authorities to respect journalists’ rights to research and obtain information as established by the Declaration of Chapultepec.
