(PFC/IFEX) – On 3 September 2003, Supreme Court Magistrate Domingo Kokisch committed what appeared to be his first attack against the press. Kokisch summoned journalist Ximena Marré and editor Mario Ovalle, of “El Mercurio” newspaper, to his office to clarify information published about a case involving robbery of classified financial information. During the meeting, Kokisch […]
(PFC/IFEX) – On 3 September 2003, Supreme Court Magistrate Domingo Kokisch committed what appeared to be his first attack against the press. Kokisch summoned journalist Ximena Marré and editor Mario Ovalle, of “El Mercurio” newspaper, to his office to clarify information published about a case involving robbery of classified financial information.
During the meeting, Kokisch asked the journalists to explain an article about the “Inverlink” case. When Marré refused to comment, Kokisch reacted by saying to her, “Are you stupid or are you just a brash woman?” When Ovalle intervened, asking for more respect, Kokisch said to him, “You, shut up!” According to the journalists, Kokisch repeatedly hit his desk in a forceful manner while talking to them. Kokisch later asked Marré to reveal her sources for the article and, when she refused to respond, the magistrate threw the journalists out of his office. As they were leaving, Kokisch pushed and attempted to hit Ovalle.
According to the judiciary’s communications director, the plenary of Supreme Court judges met with Kokisch on 5 September to discuss the details of his confrontation with the “El Mercurio” journalists. Kokisch expressed regret over the incident and, in a meeting with Juan Pablo Illanes, the newspaper’s director, he personally apologised.
Previous attack by Kokisch against a journalist exposed
On 9 September, Alberto Luengo, director of “La Nación” newspaper, made known the details of a previous attack on a journalist by Kokisch. The attack, which was not reported at the time, took place on 7 January. Luis Narváez, a journalist for “La Nación Domingo”, the Sunday supplement of “La Nación”, was beaten and threatened by Kokisch for asking him about an analysis the Supreme Court was conducting into a corruption case involving four government representatives.
The complaint by “La Nación” indicates that the incident took place when Kokisch was leaving a Supreme Court meeting. While walking
with Kokisch, Narváez asked him whether there had been a resolution in the “Coimas” case. The magistrate refused to give any details about the case. When the journalist and Kokisch arrived at a corridor beyond the security cameras, where there were no witnesses, Kokisch pushed Narváez against the wall and punched him three times in the ribs, while saying, “What do you want? What do you want? . . . We can sort this out right here. Do you want us to sort it out here?” The journalist responded, saying, “What’s wrong judge? This isn’t necessary. If you don’t want to talk to me, say so and I’ll leave.” Kokisch then left the scene.
Narvaéz said he did not denounce the incident at the time because he assumed that, with the lack of witnesses, nobody would believe his story. “I told my closest colleagues about the incident, but until now I thought that it was just a fit of rage,” the journalist said.
PFC’s response
In an 8 September statement, PFC considered the resolution of the case involving the “El Mercurio” journalists to be satisfactory. After being informed of the incident against Narváez in January, however, PFC reconsidered its position. “Kokisch’s apologies lack validity since he remained silent about the incident in January and because he has once again attacked the press,” PFC asserted in a letter to Supreme Court President Mario Enrique Astrob Garrido. In the letter, PFC requested that a disciplinary investigation be opened into Kokisch’s conduct.
PFC also called upon journalists and media outlets to promptly denounce any threats or attacks against them. “Keeping silent about serious incidents such as these only encourages aggressive behaviour toward the press,” PFC warned.
For additional information on the case, see: http://portal-pfc.org/perseguidos/2003/129.html