(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Carlos Ruckauf, RSF expressed “its concern about the telephone threats received by Jorge Larrosa, photographer for the daily ‘Página 12’, published in Buenos Aires”. The organisation requested that the governor “take control of this matter in order to ensure that a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Carlos Ruckauf, RSF expressed “its concern about the telephone threats received by Jorge Larrosa, photographer for the daily ‘Página 12’, published in Buenos Aires”. The organisation requested that the governor “take control of this matter in order to ensure that a thorough investigation is launched and the perpetrators of the threats are identified and punished.” RSF also requested that the governor “take note of the results of the work carried out by the commission created last 3 February 2000 to investigate the remaining ‘unclear aspects’ surrounding the assassination of José Luis Cabezas (see IFEX Alerts).” Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, stated that “RSF is concerned that members of the Buenos Aires provincial police may be complicit in this case, as three police officers were convicted this year for the assassination of photographer Luis Cabezas.”
According to information obtained by RSF, in a conversation with Mitre radio station, Larrosa stated that he received threats over his personal work telephone line. The threats are linked to a photograph the reporter took which may lead to the implication of police officers in the attack on a branch of the National Bank in Buenos Aires, on 17 September 1999. The photograph is now in the court’s possession.
On 25 January 1997, the burnt body of Luis Cabezas, photographer for the weekly “Noticias”, was found in Pinamar, province of Buenos Aires. On 2 February 2000, the Dolores Criminal Tribunal, in the province of Buenos Aires, sentenced eight of the ten accused to life in prison. Three of the accused were members of the Buenos Aires police. The tribunal also identified businessman Alfredo Yabrán as the instigator of the crime. The day after the sentencing was passed, Ruckauf announced the creation of an independent commission charged with investigating the ‘unclear aspects’ that remain in the case, in particular, the role of the Buenos Aires police authorities.
