(IPYS/IFEX) – On 29 September 2005, Fernando Santos Rojas, a journalist with Radio Futura station, was accused by the Second Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Satipo, a city in central Peru, of inciting violence the previous day. On 28 September, nearly 1,000 citizens attacked the Satipo police station to protest the death of the Marankiari community’s […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 29 September 2005, Fernando Santos Rojas, a journalist with Radio Futura station, was accused by the Second Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Satipo, a city in central Peru, of inciting violence the previous day. On 28 September, nearly 1,000 citizens attacked the Satipo police station to protest the death of the Marankiari community’s ex-deputy governor. According to Santos, all he did was report on the former deputy governor’s suspicious death while in police custody. He did not incite the community to violence.
The journalist told IPYS that on 28 September he called on the authorities to investigate the death and then mentioned on his programme that the Satipo Defence Front was holding a meeting in the main square, in order to organise a peaceful demonstration. In the end, the demonstration resulted in the attack on the police station.
Santos has submitted a statement to the police and is awaiting the results of their investigation. The journalist suspects that the accusation was formulated by officials who want to silence him because of his reports on government misconduct.
On 3 October, the journalist did not go on the air after finding out from trustworthy sources that members of the police and the prosecutor’s office wanted to detain him in retaliation for the attack on the police station. IPYS will investigate the facts in order to shed light on the incident.
