(Periodistas/IFEX) – On 20 August 1998, journalist Eduardo Aliverti was sentenced to pay an ex-civil servant damages in the amount of 50,000 pesos (US$50,000) stemming from a lawsuit. The verdict of the Buenos Aires Federal, Civil and Commercial Court (“Court III”) could signal another serious precedent regarding the exercise of freedom of expression in Argentina, […]
(Periodistas/IFEX) – On 20 August 1998, journalist Eduardo Aliverti was
sentenced to pay an ex-civil servant damages in the amount of 50,000 pesos
(US$50,000) stemming from a lawsuit. The verdict of the Buenos Aires
Federal, Civil and Commercial Court (“Court III”) could signal another
serious precedent regarding the exercise of freedom of expression in
Argentina, and adds to a series of equally harmful verdicts which have been
issued this year (see 1998 Periodistas biannual report at
www.netizen.com.ar/periodistas).
The legal case against Aliverti began in 1987. At that time, Aliverti read
an article from the magazine “El Porteño” on his Radio Belgrano programme.
The article singled out Juan José Ramos, a civil servant with the government
of former president Raúl Alfonsín, as responsible for requesting a
commission to regulate advertising on radio. Ramos, disturbed by the news
item, initiated legal action against the magazine and its editor, Jorge
Lanata, a member of Periodistas. However, the lawsuit went nowhere “because
in terms of the civil justice system there was not offensive or libellous
information which would compel the payment of damages,” Ricardo Monner Sans,
Aliverti’s lawyer, told Periodistas.
At the same time, Ramos initiated a lawsuit against Aliverti and Radio
Belgrano in a different jurisdiction. In that case, Judge Jorge Segreto
allowed the claim and sentenced Aliverti to pay 10,000 pesos (US$ 10,000) in
damages. Aliverti appealed the sentence to the Federal, Civil and
Commercial Court (“Court II”) of the federal capital, which upheld the
judgment and doubled the damage award. On appeal, to the Supreme Court, the
highest court in Argentina, “ordered the judgment nullified and ordered
another court to pronounce a new sentence, noting the existence of
significant errors in the assessment of the evidence,” explained Monner
Sans. On this point, the Federal, Civil and Commercial Court (“Court III”)
promised to undertake an in-depth study of the case, including the legal
proceedings in the case against “El Porteño”. Nevertheless, as was made
known on 20 August, the justices upheld the earlier sentence without
evidence of having analysed the documentation in question.
Aliverti will present a second appeal before the Supreme Court. If the
sentence is not revoked, Aliverti does not rule out the possibility of
appealing to the Interamerican Court of Human Rights.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Federal, Civil and Commercial Court (“Court III”), made up of justices
Francisco de las Carreras, Octavio Amadeo and Eugenio Bulygin
Appeals To
Supreme Court of the Nation
President: Julio Nazaren
Vice-president: Eduardo Moline O’Connor
Carlos Santiago Fayt
Augusto Belluscio
Enrique Petracchi
Antonio Boggiano
Guillermo Lopez
Gustavo Bossert
Adolfo Vázquez
Fax: + 541 372-5134
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
