(IPYS/IFEX) – Juan Carlos Tafur Rivera, a journalist and director of the daily “Correo”, was prevented from leaving Peru on the evening of 22 November 2003. Tafur Rivera had planned to participate in an event hosted by the Federation of Latin American Banks (Federación Latinoamericana de Bancos), which was to take place in Miami from […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Juan Carlos Tafur Rivera, a journalist and director of the daily “Correo”, was prevented from leaving Peru on the evening of 22 November 2003. Tafur Rivera had planned to participate in an event hosted by the Federation of Latin American Banks (Federación Latinoamericana de Bancos), which was to take place in Miami from 23 to 25 November.
Tafur Rivera was astonished when an immigration inspector at Jorge Chávez International Airport notified him that there was a note written in red in his passport. The inspector told him to speak to the Judicial Police. The police told Tafur Rivera that Judge María Esther Falconí Gálvez, who presides over Lima’s Twentieth Criminal Court, had issued an order preventing him from leaving the country. He was given no further explanation of the reasons for the action.
In an 18 July article, “Correo” reported that drug trafficker Miguel Ángel Dávila Tiznado (alias “McDonald”) had fled to Spain after being summoned by Judge Nancy Sánchez Hidalgo, of Lima’s Cono Norte area. In a sidebar to the article, it was reported that the authorities were investigating the case and that Judge Sánchez Hidalgo, coincidentally, had also travelled to Spain 15 days after the drug trafficker’s departure.
On 19 July, “Correo” published information about the National Anti-Drug Directorate’s (Dirección Nacional Antidrogas, DINANDRO) involvement in the case and, on 23 July, the daily printed a clarifying statement that had been sent to the newspaper by Judge Sánchez Hidalgo. Despite the fact that the newspaper had published several articles about the investigation into Dávila Tiznado’s flight from the country as well as the judge’s clarification, Sánchez Hidalgo launched a complaint against Tafur Rivera, accusing him of defamation.
Tafur Rivera then received a summons from Judge Falconí Gálvez. According to Tafur Rivera, on 7 October he went to the court and presented his defence. Despite the fact that the journalist was not informed that he would be subject to any restrictions, on 22 October the judge issued an order preventing him from leaving the country. The journalist and his lawyers, however, were not informed of the judge’s decision, only the airport authorities were notified.
Tafur Rivera told Radioprogramas del Perú that the situation is marked by irregularities. “In the first place, the judicial proceedings had already been initiated and no order had been issued regarding restrictions . . . I appeared before the judge when I was summoned. Secondly, according to the Criminal Code, the crime of which I am being accused -defamation, damaging an individual’s honour- does not carry a prison sentence and as such the restriction order does not fall under the penalties for this crime either. And, thirdly, the article from which the complaint originated was published under the writer’s name, not my name,” the journalist said.
“Perhaps this an abuse of authority on the part of the judge, who, in support of a colleague who felt hurt by the information published in “Correo”, has used these illegal methods to take revenge. However, I still suspect that there could be some other more sinister force behind this, but I do not have any proof of that,” said Tafur Rivera.
Tafur Rivera’s lawyer, Enrique Ghersi, has launched an appeal before the Twentieth Criminal Court, as well as a complaint before the Magistrate Authority’s District Office (Oficina Distrital de Control de la Magistratura, ODICMA). According to Ghersi, if the journalist wishes, he can launch a civil complaint against Judge Falconí Gálvez, since the law states that magistrates are responsible for damages resulting from their rulings.
In a 25 November document, Falconí Gálvez granted “Juan Carlos Tafur Rivera the right to leave the country from 24 to 30 November to travel to the United States . . . The accused must return on the indicated date and is warned that an arrest warrant at a national and international level will be issued should he fail to return.” The event in which Tafur Rivera was going to participate concluded on 25 November.
