(IPYS/IFEX) – Between 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Monday 18 October 1999 and 2:00 a.m. the following morning, more than 150 faxes with the same insulting content were received at “La República” newspaper’s offices. The faxes were directed against the newspaper’s director, Gustavo Mohme Llona, and jammed all of the office’s four phone lines. **For […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Between 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Monday 18 October 1999 and
2:00 a.m. the following morning, more than 150 faxes with the same insulting
content were received at “La República” newspaper’s offices. The faxes were
directed against the newspaper’s director, Gustavo Mohme Llona, and jammed
all of the office’s four phone lines.
**For information on previous harassment of Mohme and “La República” see
IFEX alerts of 10 September, 5 August, 28 July, 30 June, 16 June, 14 June, 8
June and 1 June 1999 and others; for background on Faisal see IFEX alerts of
13 October, 22 September, 10 August, 6 August, 14 July, 11 June, 7 June, 2
June and 28 May 1999 and others**
The fascimiles were full of vulgar sexual allusions directed at Mohme,
referring to him by a nickname created by the sensationalist, pro-government
newspaper “El Tío” to insult him. The faxes also announced the next edition
of the tabloid “Repúdica” and the launching of an electronic version of the
publication on the Internet. This tabloid imitates the design of “La
República” and is dedicated to slandering Mohme by maliciously accusing him
of being a communist and a homosexual.
At around the same time, numerous insulting and threatening calls were
received, directed at Mohme and the general editor of “La República”, Blanca
Rosales. The callers used the same abusive language used by “El Tío” to
attack Mohme.
When the caller was able to contact the newspaper’s directors, he would
either identify himself as Fernando Rospigliosi or Bruno De Olazábal – two
independent journalists who have also been victims of similar attacks.
Nonetheless, as Rosales explained to IPYS, the caller had an Argentinian
accent and, in her opinion, could be the former Argentinian military officer
and current legal representative of the self-titled web page Association for
the Defence of Truth (Asociacion Pro Defensa de la Verdad), Ricardo Faisal.
Since November 1998, this individual has maintained a web page used to
denigrate and insult journalists and politicians who are critical of the
Alberto Fujimori regime. In addition, according to a number of newspaper
investigations, Faisal is linked with the National Intelligence Service
(Servicio de Inteligencia Nacional) advisor Vladimiro Montesinos.
Faisal is a fugitive of the Argentinian justice system for having threatened
and harassed his wife and her lawyer with phone calls and written messages
similar to those received by “La República”. The Argentinian government’s
request for Faisal’s extradition was rejected by a provisional judge who was
swayed by the argument that there was not enough evidence to conclude that
Faisal was living in Peru.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
and phone calls
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535Alberto Bustamente Belaunde
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: + 51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689Martha Hilderbrandt Pérez
President of Congress of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 426 8290Edgardo Mosqueira Medina
Minister of the Presidency
Fax: + 51 1 222 3678Miguel Aljovín Swayne
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474Jose Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: + 51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
