(SPP/IFEX) – On 14 February 2002, the SPP condemned the threats received by two journalists from National Police officers. The incident occurred after the journalists witnessed the release of two members of a leftist political movement who were allegedly kidnapped by state security officers. The SPP also asked the Human Rights Attorney’s Office to provide […]
(SPP/IFEX) – On 14 February 2002, the SPP condemned the threats received by two journalists from National Police officers. The incident occurred after the journalists witnessed the release of two members of a leftist political movement who were allegedly kidnapped by state security officers. The SPP also asked the Human Rights Attorney’s Office to provide protection for the journalists.
On 29 January, Radio Ñandutí reporter Anibal Emeri, and a television reporter who remains unnamed for security reasons were present while relatives of Juan Arrom and Anuncio Martí, members of the political movement Patria Libre, were attempting to have the two individuals released. Arrom and Martí were kept in a clandestine jail for fourteen days, allegedly by National Police officers and investigators for the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Both Arrom and Martí are implicated in a case launched after the kidnapping of María Edith Bordón de Debernardi. De Debernardi, who is a member of a powerful Paraguayan family, was released on 19 January after being held for sixty-four days.
The journalists arrived just as a number of unknown individuals were fleeing the scene, upon being discovered in the same place where the two political activists were being held. Emeri identified one of the persons fleeing as police officer Juan Shembori, a member of the team investigating the de Debernardi kidnapping case.
The Radio Ñandutí reporter noted that a third person later told him that a police officer had asked him to tell Emeri that he “should be very careful,” because “Antonio Gamarra’s and Schémbori’s group kept an eye on him and was angered.” Police Commissioner Gamarra is also investigating the de Debernardi kidnapping and is involved in the kidnapping of leftist politicians. Subsequently, Emeri received another message from Gamarra asking for an interview with the journalist so that he could “explain certain things,” a statement that Emeri interpreted as a threat. Meanwhile, the television reporter informed SPP that since the beginning of the week of 11 February a white vehicle with tinted windows and no licence plate had been circling her home.
The SPP reported the case to the Human Rights Attorney’s Office. The organisation asked for police protection for the two journalists and stated that it would hold President Luis Angel González Macchi’s government responsible were anything to happen to the journalists or their families. SPP Adjunct Secretary General Francisca Pereira told the press that even though the police’s actions are under question and it is possible that police officers may be implicated in the case, it is still important to respect the country’s institutions and ask that they protect the lives of those who are threatened.
