Argentina

(Periodistas/IFEX) – The following is a 5 November 1999 Periodistas press release: The Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires has just sanctioned a law regulating the financing and duration of electoral polls. This law is an auspicious contribution to open government, which we commend. However, it includes an article which alarms us and which […]

(Periodistas), Buenos Aires (Periodistas/IFEX) – President Carlos Menem used a “necessity and urgency” decree to modify the national broadcasting law, thus enabling the concentration of ownership of radio and television broadcasters. Decree 1005/99, dated 10 September 1999 and publicised in the 27 September edition of the State Bulletin, introduces the following changes to the law: […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – PERIODISTAS is expressing its indignation over the cowardly assault of journalist Daniel Tognetti, of the television programme Caiga Quien Caiga (CQC). Tognetti was assaulted at dawn on 17 October 1999, following a gathering held by the Partido Justicialista political party in the Plaza de Mayo square. Tognetti was insulted and punched by the […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – Media organisations and trade unions have expressed their disapproval of a bill that regulates the activity of radio and television announcers. They feel that the bill violates freedom of expression and have criticised it because it assigns duties to announcers that are normally carried out by journalists, thus granting privileges to one sector […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – The following is a 7 October 1999 PERIODISTAS press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 13 September and 7 May 1999 and 9 November 1998** As the result of a hearing held on Friday 1 October before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, CIDH), the state of Argentina could […]

(Periodistas), Buenos Aires (Periodistas/IFEX) – On Thursday 16 September 1999, at 8:10 a.m. (local time), three individuals broke into the Banco Nacion subsidiary in the city of Ramallo, Buenos Aires province, and took six people hostage. A few minutes later, the provincial police and other special security forces surrounded the bank. After approximately fifteen hours […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – On Thursday 9 September 1999, the vice-governor of Cordoba province and mayoral candidate in the capital for the Justicialista political party, Germán Kammerath, threatened to take legal action against the Cordoba media if they published any information detailing his holdings. A letter which appeared in the 9 September morning edition of the weekly […]

(Periodistas), Buenos Aires (Periodistas/IFEX) – On 20 August 1999, President Carlos Menem accused journalists of initiating a campaign against the Justicialista political party (PJ) and of spreading a rumor that had in fact been started by officials closely linked to the president. The rumor suggested that the presidential candidate for the PJ, Eduardo Duhalde, was […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – The following is a 6 September 1999 Periodistas press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 7 May 1999 and 9 November 1998** INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION SUMMONED ARGENTINIAN GOVERNMENT FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION VIOLATIONS The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights summoned the Argentinian government and the Association PERIODISTAS to a hearing at the Organization of American […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – On 13 August 1999, the minister of the National Supreme Court, Adolfo Vázquez, threatened to take a constitutional lawyer to court because of the lawyer’s criticisms of a decision made by the court and of the minister’s negative comments on the press. **Updates IFEX alert of 13 August 1999** On Wednesday 11 August, […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – On Monday 16 August 1999, two journalists and a driver for “Clarín” newspaper were assaulted by members of a sporting club in Buenos Aires while they were on duty. The “Clarín” team (a columnist, photographer and driver) had gone to the Palermo subsidiary of the Buenos Aires Gymnasium and Fencing Club (GEBA) to […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – The Supreme Court repealed the ruling that absolved three journalists of the “Página/12” newspaper, in a case for damages brought against them five years ago by President Carlos Menem. The Supreme Court decided that the case should be reexamined by the National Court which considers annulments. **Updates IFEX alert of 20 December 1996** […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a 12 August 1999 letter to the minister of the interior, Carlos Corach, Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, “expresses his uneasiness over the pressure that a journalist with the “Página 12″ newspaper, Sergio Moreno, has been subjected to.” “(Considering) that the threats against the journalist constitute an attack against freedom of expression”, Ménard […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – After writing a number of articles on the confrontation between a group of unemployed persons and former members of the intelligence services, Cristian Alarcon, a journalist with the “Página/12” daily, received two warnings advising him to stop investigating the case. First, someone entered in his hotel room and stole his plane ticket and […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – PERIODISTAS is reporting the harassment of journalist Pedro Scarano. Scarano, director of the publications “Bajando Noticias” and “Identidad Virtual”, reported the threats and harassment that he and his family have received. In recent days, Scarano has been the target of threatening telephone calls and his personal telephone lines have been wiretapped. The journalist […]

(Periodistas/IFEX) – The investigation of press businessman Ricardo Gangeme’s death is distancing itself from his journalistic work and becoming more focused on his private life. Gangeme was assassinated on Thursday, 13 May 1999 in the city of Trelew, in southern Argentina. **Updates IFEX alerts of 17 May, 14 May and 13 May 1999; for background […]