(IPYS/IFEX) – Since November 2006, a group of journalists in the city of Salta, in north-eastern Argentina, has been threatened via telephone and e-mail after they reported on the alleged connection of former pro-government congress member Ernesto Aparicio, and of drug traffickers to the murder of rural businesswoman Liliana Ledesma, which took place on 21 […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Since November 2006, a group of journalists in the city of Salta, in north-eastern Argentina, has been threatened via telephone and e-mail after they reported on the alleged connection of former pro-government congress member Ernesto Aparicio, and of drug traffickers to the murder of rural businesswoman Liliana Ledesma, which took place on 21 September.
The threatened journalists are Néstor Gauna, editor of the newspaper “Nuevo Diario”, Elena Corvalán, of the same newspaper, and Sergio Poma, director of the radio station FM Noticias.
The threats began on 1 November, when Poma received a phone call in which he was warned that his family would be hurt if he continued to report on the businesswoman’s murder. Three weeks later another threat arrived via e-mail, this time including Poma, Gauna and Corvalán. The messages have been continuous since then.
Gauna has reported the threats to local police, who are providing security to the newspaper’s offices and the journalists’ homes.
