(IPYS/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 8 June 2000, Monica Vecco, investigative journalist for “La República” daily, received a threatening message. The message was sent to her e-mail address by an organisation calling itself the “5 April group” (“grupo 5 de abril”). IPYS was able to view the message which was sent on 8 June […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 8 June 2000, Monica Vecco, investigative journalist for “La República” daily, received a threatening message. The message was sent to her e-mail address by an organisation calling itself the “5 April group” (“grupo 5 de abril”).
IPYS was able to view the message which was sent on 8 June at 2:50 p.m. (local time). The message contained the words: “dog of s….!!!!, you write sh…, you will eat sh…. !!!!!!”, and the subject line stated: “….son of a bitch!!!”.
Vecco informed IPYS that the threat is connected to an investigative report published in “La
República” on 8 June. In the report, the journalist stated that the governmental alliance Peru 2000, Alberto Fujimori’s new political party, used the workshop of an official who worked for the National Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional, SIN) to produce electoral propaganda and manuals for the party’s spokespersons.
The journalist told IPYS that as soon as she received the message, the daily’s computer technicians began to track down who had sent the message by communicating with the mail-relay@iupui.edu address, the source of the message. They discovered that it was not possible to identify who had sent the threat as the address belonged to the library of an American university, the University of Indiana – Purdue, Indianapolis, in the State of Illinois.
In November 1998, Gustavo Mohme Llona, who recently passed away and was then “La República” director and member of congress for the opposition, received a threatening telephone call. The caller attributed the threat to the “5 April command” (“Comando 5 de abril”). The caller had also noted his being connected to Channel 45 in New York and spoke in mixed Spanish and English. At the time, Mohme was warned to stop publishing information on a visit by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Peru.
The name of the group makes reference to the 5 April 1992 self-imposed coup by President Fujimori.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– requesting that the threats be investigated and that the responsible parties be punished
– asking for protection for the “La República” journalist
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Ing. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of Congress
Fax: +51 1 426 8290
César Saucedo Sánchez
Minister of the Interior
Fax: +51 1 224 2405
General José Villanueva Ruesta
General Commander of the Armed Forces
Fax: +51 1 436 1423 / 435 4623
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Lieutenant General Fernando Dianderas Otonne
Director General of the Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 1 225 1775
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
