(IPYS/RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 30 August 2001 IPYS and RSF press release: RSF NETWORK PRESS RELEASE 30 August 2001 PERU Journalists acquitted of charges filed by former police officer On 17 August 2001, the judge presiding over the Huaraz First Criminal Court, Magdalena Sofía Salazar de Solís, issued ruling No 6 acquitting journalists […]
(IPYS/RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 30 August 2001 IPYS and RSF press release:
RSF NETWORK
PRESS RELEASE
30 August 2001
PERU
Journalists acquitted of charges filed by former police officer
On 17 August 2001, the judge presiding over the Huaraz First Criminal Court, Magdalena Sofía Salazar de Solís, issued ruling No 6 acquitting journalists Jesús Alfonso Castiglione Mendoza, Martín Gomez Arquiño, Hugo Gonzáles Henostroza and others of the charges for defamation filed against them by former colonel of the Peruvian National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) Ildorfo Cueva Retuerto.
Salazar ruled that the journalists had simply carried out their role to inform and relate what had occurred during the fight against terrorism in the Ancash region, particularly in the city of Huaraz, where the aforementioned former officer was chief of the Ancash Office Against Terrorism (Jefatura Contra el Terrorismo, JECOTE). The judge also felt that the proof presented by the plaintiff was not sufficient to refute witness testimonies and other evidence provided by the defendants.
On 8 May 2001, former PNP officer Cueva Retuerto filed a complaint against Jesús Alfonso Castiglione Mendoza, Martín Gomez Arquiño and Hugo Gonzáles Henostroza, following a number of the journalists’ media reports protesting the colonel’s appointment as Ancash Prefect. As a result of the accusations contained in these reports, on 20 April 2001, the former official was removed from his post by Valentín Paniagua’s government. Ildorfo Cueva Retuerto had asked for one million soles (approx. US$280,000) in damages.
In their reports, the journalists questioned whether Cueva Retuerto had the proper morals necessary to occupy such an important political post as that of Ancash Region Prefect. The journalists also denounced the colonel’s “abusive conduct during the fight against terrorism” during the first years of Fujimori’s government. They accused him of having physically and psychologically tortured journalists and a number of innocent individuals who were accused of being terrorists without sufficient evidence.
One case in point is that of journalist Alfonso Castiglione Mendoza who, after being arrested by Cueva Retuerto for “alleged subversive acts,” was tortured and later presented in prison dress as a “high-ranking” guerilla commander.
Castiglione was arrested on 27 April 1993 for collaborating with a terrorist organisation. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison based on one piece of evidence: an alleged letter by Castiglione (which was never actually presented in court) recommending a terrorist to rent a dwelling in the city of Huaraz. According to Cueva Retuerto, this room was used as a refuge for Sendero Luminoso members after an attack on the Huaraz prison. Castiglione was pardoned and released on 1 October 1996. Prior to his release, he had been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
In a 20 July 2001 press release, the Institute for Press and Society (IPYS) and Reporters sans frontières (RSF), asked the Huaraz First Criminal Court to repeal the charges for “injury and defamation” filed by the former colonel against the journalists. In addition, RSF and IPYS announced that they would denounce Cueva Retuerto before the Truth Commission, because of his actions against media professionals while he was chief of a section of the police. The Commission’s role is to identify those responsible for human rights violations committed between 1980 and 2000.
