Less than twenty-four hours before the start of the Sunday 9 April 2000 general election, the Fourth Lima Civil Court ordered the precautionary seizure of bank accounts and four properties (two of which house printing presses) belonging to the Editora Correo publishing house, in Piura and Arequipa, Peru. The court order followed a defamation complaint […]
Less than twenty-four hours before the start of the Sunday 9 April 2000 general election, the Fourth Lima Civil Court ordered the precautionary seizure of bank accounts and four properties (two of which house printing presses) belonging to the Editora Correo publishing house, in Piura and Arequipa, Peru. The court order followed a defamation complaint lodged by Congressman Miguel Ciccia Vásquez, a candidate for the party Alianza Perú 2000, against Editora Correo.
In 1998, Ciccia was denounced as a “traitor and government sell-out” by Congresswoman María Ofelia Cerro Moral, after he failed to attend a congressional session during which a referendum to oppose a third term for presidential candidate Alberto Fujimori was debated. At the time, Ciccia and Cerro Moral both belonged to the opposition coalition Union por el Perú (UPP). The congresswoman’s accusations were picked up by the newspaper “Correo”, prompting Ciccia to demand 2,000,000 soles (approx. US$595,238) from the daily as compensation for “damaging his reputation”.
A statement sent to IPYS from the “Correo” office in Piura contends that when Ciccia joined the ranks of the governing party, he gave as a “dowry” the promise of a lawsuit against “Correo”, which “could later prove useful to the government”. Several weeks ago, while campaigning in the northern city of Talara, Ciccia affirmed that he had “sold his vote in return for a new road for his riding and if it was necessary, he would do the same again.”
In the prior week, Congressman Ciccia also lodged a complaint with the Second Piura Criminal Court against Rolando Rodrich Sarango, “Correo” editor, arguing along the same lines of the first case that his honour had been questioned.
Rodrich noted that “this use of the courts for the subjugation of the press has been seen before. They have built up five cases against us and are not in a hurry to decide on any of them. They are hoping that at some point our knees will start to shake and we will come looking for help from the governing party, thus ending up owing them political favours and compromising our independence. And now they have decided to send us the message, ‘behave yourselves the day of the election if you receive news of fraud or any other type of report which could arise after Sunday, or following a second round of voting.'”
The “Correo de Piura” editor said that
“fortunately ‘Correo’ can count on its credibility and the support of its readership in the region, and it is both economically independent and in good financial standing. We are not a weak medium. We have not accepted bribes, nor will we do so when blackmailed.”
The “Correo de Piura” daily, in collaboration with the College of Lawyers, mounted a strong campaign to improve the ethical standards of the judiciary in Piura and Tumbes. The campaign culminated in the dismissal of Gerard Adán Soto Quitoz, president of the Piura Supreme Court. The Judiciary’s Executive Commission responded by appointing Soto Quiroz to the Lambayeque Court. However, according to information published in “Correo”, Soto Quiroz has not been able to assume his new position due to pressure from this region’s lawyers.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– protesting the order to seize Editora Correo’s assets
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689
Blanca Nélida Colán
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474
Víctor Raúl Castillo Castillo
President of the Peruvian Supreme Court
Fax: +51 1 428 0803
Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of Congress
Fax: +51 1 426 8290
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
