The Utcubamba Provincial Criminal Prosecutor's Office lodged an accusation of aggravated theft of the radio spectrum against the owner of radio station La Voz de Bagua, Aurora Burgos de Flores.
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 25 February 2011, the Utcubamba Provincial Criminal Prosecutor’s Office lodged an accusation of “aggravated theft of the radio spectrum” against the owner of radio station La Voz de Bagua, Aurora Burgos de Flores. The prosecutor in charge of the case, Olga Bobadilla, requested a four-year prison sentence for the accused, as well as a payment of 3,000 nuevos soles (approx. US$1,080). The province of Utcubamba is located in the Amazonas region, in northeastern Peru.
The accusation was made after the prosecutor’s office itself, through the assistant prosecutor, filed the case against Burgos de Flores. However, the Ministry of Transport and Communications attorney, Oswaldo Arroyo Novoa, contested this decision. This led to a reopening of the investigation and to the current accusation against the station’s owner.
Carlos Flores Borja, the radio station’s director, believes the legal action amounts to an attack against freedom of expression, considering that La Voz de Bagua has already paid all its outstanding administrative debts. According to the journalist, the accusation contradicts the stipulations of the August 2010 Ministerial Resolution through which the radio’s license was reinstated.
