(IPYS/IFEX) – On 6 November 2006, journalist Freddy Machado, a correspondent for Globovisión television station in the State of Táchira, in western Venezuela, was accused of illegal possession of a government document. The accusation was filed by the region’s criminal prosecutor, Juan de Jesús Gutiérrez, after Machado received a copy of the ruling that allows […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 6 November 2006, journalist Freddy Machado, a correspondent for Globovisión television station in the State of Táchira, in western Venezuela, was accused of illegal possession of a government document.
The accusation was filed by the region’s criminal prosecutor, Juan de Jesús Gutiérrez, after Machado received a copy of the ruling that allows him to publish photographs of Judge Jorge Ochoa, who, in March 2006, had asked a court to forbid the journalist from publishing any photos of him for security reasons.
Machado received the document from an employee of the Second Court of First Instance in civil, commercial and transit matters (Tribunal Segundo de Primera Instancia en lo Civil, Mercantil y de Tránsito). According to the journalist, his receipt of the document has been recorded in the court’s ledger of documents delivered.
The prosecutor insists that Machado should not have a copy of the ruling, even though he received it from the court employee. His accusation is based on Article 78 of the Law Against Corruption, which punishes with a prison sentence of three to seven years anyone who illegally hides, alters or keeps this kind of document. The journalist, however, requested a copy of the ruling, an action that is not categorized as a crime.
The journalist stated to IPYS that he will continue to heed the prosecutor’s summonses.
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