(PFC/IFEX) – Marcelo Sisso, a journalist for “El Sol de Mendoza” newspaper, has been receiving threatening telephone calls during which unknown individuals pressure him to cease reporting on irregularities in the management of the El Triángulo Housing Cooperative. In a telephone call on the evening of 30 July 2003, a male caller warned Sisso to […]
(PFC/IFEX) – Marcelo Sisso, a journalist for “El Sol de Mendoza” newspaper, has been receiving threatening telephone calls during which unknown individuals pressure him to cease reporting on irregularities in the management of the El Triángulo Housing Cooperative. In a telephone call on the evening of 30 July 2003, a male caller warned Sisso to stop reporting on the topic, saying, “or you know what will happen to you.” The following day, Sisso received three more telephone calls with a similar message, including one in which the caller said, “don’t be stupid, drop the El Triángulo subject.”
According to information provided to PFC by Sisso, in 1998, El Triángulo Limited began to construct a housing development in Guaymallén department, Mendoza province, with a loan provided by the Provincial Housing Institute. Although the loan was increased in 2001, the construction work was halted in May of that year. To date, 70% of the funds have been spent while only 39% of the work has been completed, and there are structural defects in the houses. Due to the irregularities, the cooperative’s members asked the Cooperatives Directorate to intervene. The directorate conducted an audit, which established that there were financial problems and mismanagement within the housing cooperative, in addition to a lack of financial reporting and large debts to suppliers. The chair of the Cooperatives Directorate, Roberto Mandarino, filed a criminal complaint against the El Triángulo board of directors for alleged misappropriation of funds.
In a letter to Mendoza Justice and Security Minister Leopoldo Manuel Orquín, PFC requested that he provide protection for Sisso and conduct an investigation to identify those responsible for the threats.
“Threats against journalists are made in an attempt to stop them from exposing irregularities, such as those which took place in the El Triángulo Housing Cooperative. In particular, the aim is to impede the public from becoming aware of these problems”, PFC said in its letter. PFC considers the threatening phone calls to Sisso to be “an attack against free expression.”
For PFC’s letter to Mendoza’s justice and security minister and additional information, see:
http://www.portal-pfc.org/perseguidos/2003/116.html
