The journalists believe the death threats are a response to the newspaper’s position regarding the presence of some consultants, officials and a group of powerful businessmen close to Mayor Zevallos.
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 16 May 2012, journalists Jaime Antonio Vásquez Valcárcel and Jorge Martín Carrillo Rojas, director and editor respectively of Iquitos newspaper Pro & Contra, told IPYS they received several threatening e-mails from an e-mail account they believe has been created by somebody close to the mayor of Maynas, Charles Zevallos. These threats took place in the Loreto region of northeastern Peru.
The threats, which started arriving to their personal accounts on 13 May, and which name the mayor only by his first name, cautioned them to stop spending their time reporting on him or else be killed. One of the e-mails even names the Pro & Contra director’s children.
The journalists believe the death threats are a response to the newspaper’s position regarding the presence of some consultants, officials and a group of powerful businessmen close to Mayor Zevallos.
Vásquez Valcarcel and Carrillo Rojas have requested guarantees for their welfare from the Government of Iquitos and will soon make a formal complaint before the Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
IPYS condemns the aggressions against the Pro & Contra journalists and requests that the relevant authorities investigate the facts, find those responsible, prosecute them and punish them in accordance with the law.
