(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – Media businessman and investor Jorge Canahuati Larach, owner of “La Prensa” and “El Heraldo” newspapers, published in the northern city of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, the capital, respectively, is the target of a new legal action for libel and defamation, filed by banker Jaime Rosenthal Oliva, who is also a newspaper owner. […]
(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – Media businessman and investor Jorge Canahuati Larach, owner of “La Prensa” and “El Heraldo” newspapers, published in the northern city of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, the capital, respectively, is the target of a new legal action for libel and defamation, filed by banker Jaime Rosenthal Oliva, who is also a newspaper owner.
Rosenthal, owner of the San Pedro Sula daily “Tiempo”, also owns a television channel. He is arguing that articles published in “La Prensa” on 23 and 25 July 2005 put his own life and those of his family members in danger.
The articles were regarding a land dispute, in which a man was wounded by a security guard from the Continental bank, which is owned by Rosenthal, who also claims the land is his. “La Prensa” ran front page articles on 23 and 25 July, entitled “Rosenthal is trying to take away land belonging to nine families in Copán” and “Rosenthal’s guard wounds neighbour defending land”. The land in dispute is located in Copán, a western region, birthplace of the Maya civilisation in Honduras.
Rosenthal maintains that the “La Prensa” articles were without any basis in fact, and were motivated by the express desire to “defame him, consciously and intentionally.” According to Rosenthal’s legal representative Kiler Acosta, the articles’ titles and content exposed Rosenthal and his family to violent attacks, and put his assets at risk.
Rosenthal said the allegations are completely false, adding “I think the laws are there to prevent this, so that media owners do not abuse their powers or use false information and special circumstances to attack other people.”
Rosenthal said that the land under dispute belongs to him and that the Continental bank has a public land deed that states he is the legitimate owner of the property, which was split into lots to be sold to 100 poor families. He added that, “there are nine families also laying false claims to the land.”
He said that in order to respond to “La Prensa” claims that he was trying to undermine freedom of expression, he sent a complaint to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) indicating that “press freedom laws are intended to protect journalists and media when they tell the truth, not to protect a lie. [. . .] They fail to serve their just purpose when owners of the media use them for totally different purposes.”
In its 28 July edition, “La Prensa” made no reference to Rosenthal’s complaint, indicating only that the information published about the land dispute was in response to a complaint filed by local residents and not to the newspaper’s particular economic interests.
This was the second suit filed between 25 and 28 July against Canahuati, whose papers are widely read nationally. He is the first media businessman to be sued in Honduras in 25 years.
