Articles by Instituto Prensa y Sociedad
Indigenous community frees journalist and his translator
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2005, journalist Luis Peña Vergaray and his translator, Eduardo Arrobo Samaniego, were released without any armed intervention after being held hostage for five days by the Aguaruna indigenous group in the region of Pampa Entsa, province of Condorcanqui, Amazonas region, in the country’s northeast. This occurred after a commission of […]
Authorities seize radio station transmitter
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2005, officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) and five National Army soldiers raided the premises of Radio Alternativa de Caracas 94.9 FM, a community radio station, and confiscated its transmitter, according to the station’s press release on the incident. The CONATEL officials reportedly did not […]
Squatters attack television reporter during rural land eviction
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 8 May 2005, José Atauje Tipe, a reporter for Lima television stations Canal 4 and Canal N, was assaulted by a group of squatters being evicted by police from land they had taken over. The incident occurred in Ñahuimpuquio, a zone 5 km down the Ayacucho – Cuzco highway, in the country’s […]
Journalist and his translator held hostage by indigenous community in Amazonas
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 6 May 2005 journalist Luis Peña Vergaray and his translator, Eduardo Arrobo Samaniego, were taken hostage by the Aguarunas indigenous community of Pampa Entsa, in Condorcanqui province, Amazonas region, northeastern Peru. The group is asking the national government to send a commission to hear their demands for changes in their social conditions. […]
British journalists fined, facing one year probation for defaming businessman
(IPYS/IFEX) – IPYS condemns the 4 May 2005 decision of the Eleventh Criminal Court, presided by Judge Alfredo Catacora. Catacora found journalists Sally Bowen and Jane Holligan guilty of defaming businessman Fernando Zevallos and awarded him 10,000 soles (approx. US$3,000) in civil damages. In a ruling that sets a dangerous precedent, Bowen and Holligan, both […]
Peruvian ambassador assaults journalist
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 28 April 2005, Peru’s ambassador to Spain, Fernando Olivera Vega, assaulted Bettina Mendoza, a reporter with Lima’s Radio CPN station. The diplomat slammed his car door violently on the journalist’s arm, causing serious injury to the ligaments of her right arm. Video images show that the diplomat’s action was apparently intentional. Mendoza, […]
Municipal council bans disclosure of information
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 20 April 2005, the Nova Andradina (Mato Grosso do Sul state) municipal council approved a new local law that prohibits its members from disclosing the contents of any documents concerning the council’s accounts. According to the text, this information can only be posted on the municipal council’s own website, which currently does […]
Journalist accuses public official of issuing death threat
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 18 April 2005, Raúl Vela Carhuas, a reporter with the daily “El Pregonero” in Huánuco, central Peru, claimed to have received death threats from José Antonio Muñoz Cárdenas, the regional head of a government works programme. The journalist said he believed the aggression was provoked by an investigative report published in the […]