(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 November 2004, the military’s prosecutor general, Eladio Aponte, notified journalist Manuel Isidro Molina, of the weekly “La Razón”, that a complaint has been launched against him for allegedly defaming the National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacional). The complaint was launched after the journalist published a 7 November article alleging that retired […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 November 2004, the military’s prosecutor general, Eladio Aponte, notified journalist Manuel Isidro Molina, of the weekly “La Razón”, that a complaint has been launched against him for allegedly defaming the National Armed Forces (Fuerza Armada Nacional).
The complaint was launched after the journalist published a 7 November article alleging that retired air force colonel Silvino Bustillos, who disappeared on 1 November, had been tortured and assassinated at the military intelligence service’s (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar, DIM) facilities in Caracas.
On 8 November, however, according to statements made by his lawyer, Bustillos telephoned his family and informed them that he was well, but in hiding. The following day, the journalist issued a press release in which he rectified the information published in his column. In the press release, he publicly acknowledged his responsibility for the information and explained that it was an “involuntary error” resulting from an “overestimation of the reliability of his source.”
Molina told IPYS that after issuing the press release, he met with Aponte to explain why he published the information and to assume responsibility for it. During the meeting, he asked Aponte to avoid “contaminating the issue for political reasons.” Aponte apparently assured the journalist that due process would be followed.
The complaint against Molina is being launched in accordance with Article 505 of the Military Justice Code (Código de Justicia Militar), which establishes that those who in any way insult, offend or slight the National Armed Forces or any of its entities may be subject to three to eight years in prison.
However, Article 261 of the Venezuelan Constitution stipulates that military jurisdiction is limited to crimes of a military nature. In addition, Article 49, Section 4, states that everyone has the right to be tried by the appropriate authorities, which means that Molina, as a civilian, should not be brought before a military prosecutor.
The Military Prosecutor’s Office has summoned Molina to a 19 November meeting with Caracas’s chief military prosecutor, Major Lisandro Bautista Landaeta, who will be in charge of the journalist’s case.
