(IPYS/IFEX) – On 30 October 2006, Judge Mercedes Gómez Marchisio, of Lima’s Thirty-fifth Criminal Court, ordered “Expreso” newspaper editor Luis García Miró to abstain from publishing any news or journalistic reports about former justice minister Diego García Sayán. The order was issued together with a court decision to open an investigation following a lawsuit filed […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 30 October 2006, Judge Mercedes Gómez Marchisio, of Lima’s Thirty-fifth Criminal Court, ordered “Expreso” newspaper editor Luis García Miró to abstain from publishing any news or journalistic reports about former justice minister Diego García Sayán.
The order was issued together with a court decision to open an investigation following a lawsuit filed by García Sayán against García Miró for the alleged crime of defamation, after “Expreso” published a series of accusations against the former minister. The plaintiff’s lawyers have asked the judge to stipulate that García Miró abstain from publishing any information about the matters before the court.
The judge’s decision undermines freedom of expression and infringes on Article 2, subsection 4 of Peru’s Constitution, which states that “every person has the right to the freedoms of information, opinion, expression and dissemination of ideas (. . .) without prior authorization or censorship or other impediments.”
On 14 November, García Miró’s attorneys filed an appeal of the court’s decision with the same court. They hope their appeal will be referred to Lima’s Superior Court and overturned by it.
