Journalist verbally assaulted by provincial governor

(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – Between 25 and 30 July 2002, Cordoba province Governor José Manuel de la Sota and his wife Olga Riutort, secretary-general of the provincial government, verbally assaulted journalist Sergio Carreras while appearing on a number of television programmes. During the 30 July broadcast of La Cornisa programme, Riutort insulted Carreras by making reference to […]

(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – Between 25 and 30 July 2002, Cordoba province Governor José Manuel de la Sota and his wife Olga Riutort, secretary-general of the provincial government, verbally assaulted journalist Sergio Carreras while appearing on a number of television programmes. During the 30 July broadcast of La Cornisa programme, Riutort insulted Carreras by making reference to his mother. Three days later she publicly admitted that her choice of words had been “somewhat harsh.”

On 24 July, an article by Carreras appeared in the Cordoba daily “La Voz del Interior”, pointing to irregularities in the purchase of provincial savings bonds, which were printed in Chile. Carreras reported that on a secret trip to Chile in November 2001 to pick up the bonds, Riutort was temporarily held for questioning after she failed to declare the bonds to customs authorities. As a result of the article, the Cordoba Anti-Corruption Office launched a legal investigation into the matter.

In a letter to PERIODISTAS, the Cordoba Press Union (Círculo Sindical de Prensa de Cordoba, CISPREN) noted that “Governor De la Sota is currently campaigning in hopes of being nominated as presidential candidate for the Justicialista Party,” and was therefore “clearly annoyed by Carreras’ article.” The union added that after the article appeared, De la Sota “sent a lengthy note to the dailies ‘La Nacion’ and ‘Clarín’ – the country’s main newspapers and the biggest shareholders in ‘La Voz del Interior’ – and to most of the radio and television stations; in his letter, the governor used false arguments to discredit Carreras’ work and called into question the publication’s worth.” While appearing on television, the governor accused Carreras of being a “third rate investigator” who wrote “pulp fiction” and tried to pass off poor information as news. Finally, CISPREN criticised De la Sota for warning Cordoba National University radio and television stations (Canal 10, Radio Universidad and FM Power) that they may risk losing government advertising contracts because they reported on Carreras’ article.

In the 6 August edition of “La Voz del Interior”, Carlos Jornet, the publication’s director, responded to the governor in an editorial. The second part of Carreras’ investigation, in which he confirmed his previous allegations, was also published that same day. CISPREN responded to De la Sota’s commentary by recalling that this year Carreras received the María Moors Cabot prize from Columbia University and that the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) awarded him for a series of reports on problems plaguing customs, immigration and police officers on the border between Argentina and Bolivia.

On 7 August, PERIODISTAS wrote to Carreras and Jornet outlining the organisation’s support and the “need to condemn these types of attacks on freedom of expression,” and expressing the hope that “the Anti-Corruption Office’s investigation into the alleged irregularities can be carried out without impediments.”

Recommended Action

Sergio Carreras
Diario La Voz del Interior
Tel: +54 351 475 7002
Fax: +54 351 457 7286
E-mail: scarreras@lavozdelinterior.com.ar, cjornet@lavozdelinterior.com.ar

Send copies to:

Círculo Sindical de Prensa de Cordoba
Juan Carlos Giuliani, Secretario General
Ernesto Ponsati, Secretario de Prensa
Tel/Fax: +54 351 426 3662
E-mail: gcabus@cispren.com.ar, cispren@cispren.com.ar

Send appeals to the governor:
– condemning his actions

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