(IPYS/IFEX) – On 31 October 2000, Adrián Aguilar Reyes, director of the radio programme Huandoy Noticias in Caraz, province of Yungay, in the department of Ancash, was sentenced to a one-year conditional prison sentence and ordered to pay a fine of 1500 soles (approximately US$430) in civil damages for having allegedly defamed Mayor Pedro Crisologo […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 31 October 2000, Adrián Aguilar Reyes, director of the radio programme Huandoy Noticias in Caraz, province of Yungay, in the department of Ancash, was sentenced to a one-year conditional prison sentence and ordered to pay a fine of 1500 soles (approximately US$430) in civil damages for having allegedly defamed Mayor Pedro Crisologo Castillo Flores, a member of the ruling party. During a live broadcast, Aguilar reported on serious irregularities which occurred during the 9 April elections.
In an interview with IPYS, Aguilar said that, on that evening, ballots were found at polling station number 162028, which were marked in the box corresponding to the Perú Posible party. After the journalist condemned this, the signal over which his broadcast was being sent to several regions of the country was suddenly cut. According to Aguilar Reyes, someone deliberately disconnected Radio Huandoy’s antenna transmission cables, which are situated on San Juan hill, alongside those of all the other media outlets in Caraz.
After resolving the problem by making use of a less-powerful transmitter, Aguilar blamed Mayor Castillo for having ordered the cable to be disconnected and Radio Huandoy taken off the air in order to avoid the reports about electoral irregularities being aired.
Later on 13 April, in a letter drawn up by lawyers, the mayor called on the radio station to remove its equipment and antenna within forty-eight hours, claiming that it did not have proper authorisation. In response, in the 1 May edition of “Liberacion” newspaper, Aguilar stated that the station did have proper authorisation, which had been granted by Municipal Director Juan Cruz Ramírez on 9 March. “I don’t understand how Mayor Castillo could argue that we didn’t receive proper authorisation for the equipment to be installed, or that he could call it illegal, when they themselves were the ones who gave the authorisation,” Aguilar said.
Nevertheless, the mayor refused to acknowledge Cruz Ramírez’s authorisation, and stated on 15 April, in another legal missive, that “authorisation documents issued in the name of the municipality can only be endorsed by the undersigned, its legal representative.”
Castillo then lodged a defamation suit against Aguilar, which resulted in the 31 October sentence mentioned above. The journalist has appealed the decision, saying that it contravenes freedom of expression. For his part, Castillo has also appealed the decision, arguing that both the punishment and the monetary damages “are not in accordance with the moral damage” that he claims to have endured.
In a letter to the Huaylas court judge, the sub-director of the Human Rights Association (la Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos, APRODEH), Miguel Jugo Viera, expressed his profound concern for Aguilar’s legal predicament: “In the present case, Your Honour, Mister Adrián Vicente Aguilar Reyes has acted to defend public interest, calling on the tenants of freedom of expression, which are set down in our political constitution, and not with the aim of damaging the honour or the reputation of any authority. His actions are in accordance with the legal precendents established by the Supreme Court.”
Aguilar and his family have been the targets of death threats, in an attempt to force the radio director to leave Caraz.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
- calling for a just and impartial trial for Aguilar
Appeals To
Valentín Paniagua Corazao
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722/426 6535
Walter Albán Peralta
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Sergio Sánchez Romero
Judge of Huaraz’s First Mixed Criminal and Civil Court
Fax: +51 44 72 1851
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
