(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 14 October 2003, journalist Gustavo Corvalán, of “El Liberal” newspaper, in Santiago del Estero province, was threatened as he was covering a protest by unemployed individuals who were making demands for food at the province’s Health and Social Action Ministry. The journalist said he was threatened by Nicomedes Marcos, an individual who, […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 14 October 2003, journalist Gustavo Corvalán, of “El Liberal” newspaper, in Santiago del Estero province, was threatened as he was covering a protest by unemployed individuals who were making demands for food at the province’s Health and Social Action Ministry.
The journalist said he was threatened by Nicomedes Marcos, an individual who, according to “El Liberal”, works in the local police’s D2 Information Department. Corvalán said that he was in one of the Ministry’s hallways when Marcos intercepted and warned him, “You want to know who I’m working for, you son of a b…., you’d better be careful, you and your family.”
Oscar Gerez, the newspaper’s editorial secretary, told PERIODISTAS that Marcos regularly attends press conferences, marches and demonstrations where he poses as a journalist. In the days before the threat against Corvalán, “El Liberal” published an article reporting that, at an assembly of doctors from the Federal Health Program, participants had wondered “who the person was who was recording everything that was said at the meeting and what media outlet he worked for.”
“El Liberal” reported the threat against Corvalán to the first instance criminal court, headed by Ramón Eduardo Gómez. Gerez told PERIODISTAS that two days later, when he spoke to the court to find out if there were any developments in the case, he discovered that Marcos had lodged a complaint against Corvalán, claiming that the journalist had harassed him.
