(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On Friday 3 May 2002, Daniel Malnatti, of the “Caiga Quien Caiga” (CQC) programme, was assaulted and threatened with a gun by individuals presumed to be former president Carlos Menem’s bodyguards. The incident occurred at the Grand Hotel Tucumán, in the capital of Tucumán province, where Menem was scheduled to hold a press […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On Friday 3 May 2002, Daniel Malnatti, of the “Caiga Quien Caiga” (CQC) programme, was assaulted and threatened with a gun by individuals presumed to be former president Carlos Menem’s bodyguards. The incident occurred at the Grand Hotel Tucumán, in the capital of Tucumán province, where Menem was scheduled to hold a press conference as part of his political tour.
At 6:45 p.m. (local time), the journalist was on the hotel’s seventh floor, near the former president’s suite, when he was reprimanded by a bodyguard who insisted that he leave. Additional bodyguards then appeared and shoved Malnatti in one of the elevators. According to Malnatti, one of the men punched him in the chest and stomach and pointing a gun at him told him, “I am going to kill you.” Cameraman Miguel Aspiroz and production assistant Gaston Tourec tried to intervene and deter the armed individual.
When the elevator reached the lobby, the bodyguard told Malnatti, “do not make any noise, we are going to take this outside,” and threatened to shoot him if he attempted to cause a scandal. Nevertheless, as the group was crossing the lobby, Malnatti spotted the hotel manager and asked for her help. The commotion began to attract attention and as a result the assailants fled the scene.
The Tucumán province police were called in by the hotel manager and taken to one of the hotel rooms. The journalists recorded the meeting in the room with one of the men who participated in the assault, Miguel Ángel Chaile. Chaile was a provincial police commissioner under the Antonio Bussi government and believed to have taken part in the repression during the last military dictatorship. In the video recording, Chaile is seen proposing to Malnatti to clear up the incident and identify the armed individual in exchange for the journalist’s promise that the incident will be forgiven. “I will bring you to the other man if you do not launch a legal action,” Chaile said to Malnatti. The provincial government minister also promised to investigate the assault. Federal Police officers later accompanied the news crew to the airport for their flight back to Buenos Aires.
On Tuesday 7 May, Chaile was arrested after criminal court Judge Juan Carlos Tártalo agreed to a request to this effect by Attorney Teresa Marnero, who is heading the investigation. A legal action was filed accusing the assailants of causing “bodily harm, threatening assault with a weapon and depriving an individual of his liberty”.
In a press release, PERIODISTAS condemned the assault. “The attack against Daniel Malnatti, and the numerous attacks against journalists in various parts of the country, have to be seen as yet another indicator of the violence and impunity surrounding those who employ the strategy of hiring ‘matones’ [individuals paid to commit violent acts] as part of their political plan,” the organisation stated.
The organisation recalled that CQC journalists have previously been subjected to such tactics. On 17 October 1999, during the electoral campaign of then presidential candidate and current acting President Eduardo Duhalde, journalist Daniel Tognetti, formerly employed by CQC, was assaulted. His attackers are still free today, despite the existence of video recordings that clearly demonstrate their role in the incident.
PERIODISTAS noted that “the majority of those who have held public office in the country have experienced great difficulty in moving among their fellow citizens and have had to shut themselves away in restricted areas. This latest incident shows that they have also decided to keep themselves away from the press which is in touch with the increasing malaise, protests and social unrest.”
Recommended Action
Send letters of support to:
Daniel Malnatti, Miguel Aspiroz and Gaston Tourec
Productora Cuatro Cabezas
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: +54 11 4784 2600
Send appeals to the members of the Justicialista Party National Council:
– urging them to ensure that Menem shed light on the incident, identify the individuals assigned to watch over him and explain who gave the order, if such an order was given, to attack the journalists
Appeals To
Consejo Nacional Justicialista
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: +54 11 4952 4555 / 6073 / 6075
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
