(IPYS/IFEX) Miguel Ángel Moscoso Moscoso, former press assistant to the Human Rights and Pacification Congress Commission, informed IPYS that he has been receiving numerous telephone calls warning him to withdraw the denouncement he made against the Commission’s president, congressman Anselmo Revilla Jurado. Moscoso denounced in October 1998, that the congressman had been unlawfully appropriating funds […]
(IPYS/IFEX) Miguel Ángel Moscoso Moscoso, former press assistant to the
Human Rights and Pacification Congress Commission, informed IPYS that he
has been receiving numerous telephone calls warning him to withdraw the
denouncement he made against the Commission’s president, congressman
Anselmo Revilla Jurado. Moscoso denounced in October 1998, that the
congressman had been unlawfully appropriating funds from a part of the
salaries of the parliamentary group’s employees.
Moscoso informed IPYS that during the legislative period of July 1997
to July 1998, he offered his services to congressman Revilla, who after
having set the amount of his salary, placed on him a condition to give
up fifty percent of this honorarium. Moscoso accepted this as a
compensation in return for the opportunity that he was being offered.
Under these conditions, at the end of each month, Moscoso was obligated
to submit his entire salary (in cash) to the congressman, who then kept
part of the amount. Other employees found themselves in a similar
situation and were unable to protest, as they were being threatened with
immediate dismissal. In another arbitrary and abusive act, Revillo was
appropriating eighty percent of the salary bonuses for the months of
April, July and December.
In August 1998, Moscoso was transferred to the Congress press office
while the new contracts were being defined. On the first week of
September, he received his settlement pay. Immediately afterwards,
Revilla approached Moscoso and demanded that he hand over to him funds
in compensation for time served, adding up to 13,000 soles (approx.
US$4,000). The journalist refused to do so, and since that time, he has
been under constant pressure, including from high ranking Congress
officials that have urged him to hand over the funds. Moscoso finally
resolved to give the congressman 2,000 soles (approx. US$590) despite
the fact that this was not necessitated by any legal requirements or
labour practices. Revilla, for his part, considered this amount to be a
mockery, although he did accept the sum.
Faced with this pressure and other repressive measures, Moscoso wrote a
letter to then Congress president, Victor Joy Way, outlining the details
of the blackmail he was subject to. This letter was made public on 30
October in the Enlace Global programme with Cesar Hildebrandt on channel
13.
Since then, Moscoso has been receiving telephone threats and he was
intercepted on the street by persons unknown to him. Calls made during
the last week of January threatened him to publicly retract his
denouncement.
In addition, congressman Revilla has filed a judicial suit against
Moscoso for defamation, in which he is requesting civil compensation for
damages of a million soles (approx. US$295,000), accusing Moscoso “of
having damaged his good reputation and honor.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Appeals To
Ing. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +511 426 6535Ricardo Marcenaro
Congress President
Fax: +511 426 8290Victor Joy Way Rojas
President of the Ministers’ Council
Fax: +511 447 1628
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
