(PFC/IFEX) – On 14 November 2003, President Lucio Gutiérrez demanded that “El Comercio” newspaper reveal its sources for a story about an alleged donation to the president’s electoral campaign by an individual implicated in drug trafficking. Gutiérrez warned he would resort to “legal measures to obtain the names from ‘El Comercio'” if the paper failed […]
(PFC/IFEX) – On 14 November 2003, President Lucio Gutiérrez demanded that “El Comercio” newspaper reveal its sources for a story about an alleged donation to the president’s electoral campaign by an individual implicated in drug trafficking. Gutiérrez warned he would resort to “legal measures to obtain the names from ‘El Comercio'” if the paper failed to reveal its sources.
“El Comercio” published information stating that Sociedad Patriótica, one of the political parties that brought Gutiérrez to power, had received a campaign donation of US$30,000 from César Fernández Cevallo’s family. Fernández Cevallo is the former governor of Manabí province and was arrested on 23 October on charges of drug trafficking.
The source for the story, whose identity has been kept secret, said that “the party’s Manabí director, retired lieutenant colonel Glauco Bustos, contacted the Fernández Cevallo family, who paid out the sum of US$30,000. The money, which was not reported in an official manner to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, was subsequently transferred to campaign manager Carlos Vega, who is currently the National Modernisation Council’s [Consejo Nacional de Modernización, CONAM] executive director.”
On 16 November, “El Comercio” responded to the president’s threats, saying it would not reveal its sources, while maintaining that the sources are “reliable and trustworthy.”
The newspaper based its defence on Article 81 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right of journalists to secrecy. With respect to this issue, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights states, “Every social communicator has the right to keep his/her source of information, notes, personal and professional archives confidential.”
In a letter to President Gutiérrez, PFC stated that the demand for “El Comercio” to reveal its sources was inappropriate. “The reaction to the information published by the newspaper about the alleged receipt of illegal campaign funds seems disproportionate,” PFC said, adding that the correct course of action in such cases is to “take a second look at the information and undertake a thorough investigation of party structures and finances to verify whether or not funds from drug trafficking were received.”
For additional information on the case, see:
http://portal-pfc.org/perseguidos/2003/150.html
