(PFC/IFEX) – Journalist Carlos Mauricio Flores, editor-in-chief of “El Heraldo” newspaper, which is published in the capital, Tegucigalpa, was threatened and verbally attacked following the publication of a 20 October 2003 article about links between Colombian guerillas and drug trafficking in Honduras. On 21 October, Ethalson Mejía, a Colombian citizen who was alleged to be […]
(PFC/IFEX) – Journalist Carlos Mauricio Flores, editor-in-chief of “El Heraldo” newspaper, which is published in the capital, Tegucigalpa, was threatened and verbally attacked following the publication of a 20 October 2003 article about links between Colombian guerillas and drug trafficking in Honduras.
On 21 October, Ethalson Mejía, a Colombian citizen who was alleged to be a Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) contact in the “El Heraldo” article, arrived at the newspaper’s office to reprimand Flores. At one point, Mejía tried to hit Flores with a chair. Mejía and his legal counsel, Gloria Maritza García Suárez, who was also mentioned in the newspaper article, threatened to initiate legal action for defamation and libel against Flores and the newspaper.
Mejía and García Suárez tried to find out who the journalist’s source was and, failing that, they threatened to launch a complaint before the courts. They claimed that the information published in the article is false.
Flores told the Committee for Free Expression (Comité por la Libre Expresión, C-Libre) that he has reliable documentation to support the claims made in the article and that, if a complaint is launched, he will be able to defend himself. On 23 October, Flores registered a complaint with National Human Rights Commissioner Ramón Custodio López. A representative of the human rights commission took statements from journalists and the newspaper’s security personnel who witnessed the actions against Flores.
Flores told C-Libre that the newspaper has provided him with protection and its team of lawyers is preparing for the possible launch of a complaint against him.
This is the second time in 2003 that a journalist has been targeted for reporting on drug trafficking. The first case was that of journalist Renato Álvarez, who is awaiting trial in two cases against him (see IFEX alerts of 1 October, 20 August, 28 and 3 July 2003).
In a letter to the national human rights commissioner, PFC expressed concern over the threats against Flores.
For further information on the case, see: http://probidad.org/honduras/libexp/2003/042.html
This alert has been prepared by PFC with information from C-Libre.
