(IPYS/IFEX) – On 19 April 1999, at about 6:45 p.m. (local time), some fifteen people burst into the Radio Estudio 99 premises, in the city of Satipo, department of Junín. They damaged the recording booth and equipment, and threatened journalist Fernando Santos Rojas, who has been the director of the news programme “Libertad de Prensa” […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 19 April 1999, at about 6:45 p.m. (local time), some
fifteen people burst into the Radio Estudio 99 premises, in the city of
Satipo, department of Junín. They damaged the recording booth and equipment,
and threatened journalist Fernando Santos Rojas, who has been the director
of the news programme “Libertad de Prensa” (Freedom of the Press) for the
last three years.
According to a report received by IPYS from Luis Pariona Arana, a
correspondent in Satipo, radio announcer César Felipe and reporter Abel
Robles Véliz were in the studio at the time of the attack. They managed to
identify some of the aggressors as the heads of the Santa Rosa Retailers’
Association, an organisation that is openly sympathetic to provincial mayor
Arturo Durand Panez. Journalist Santos Rojas suggested that the mayor is
responsible for this attack.
Pariona informed IPYS that both Santos Rojas and the general manager of
Radio Estudio 99, Ernesto Chuchon Omonte, believe that the mayor is behind
the attack for two reasons: first, in an interview aired at noon (local
time) on 18 April on Radio Nueva Señal, which belongs to the mayor, he had
alluded to the fact that Santos Rojas’ programme would not air on Tuesday 20
April; second, moments before the attack the aggressors had met with the
mayor in his office.
In a statement made to IPYS, the threatened journalist said that these acts
are intended to intimidate and silence him because of his criticisms of the
mayor’s management of his affairs. He added that this is not the first time
that he has been attacked by the mayor and his allies, who are constantly
harassing and threatening him either indirectly or directly as was the case
this time.
From the information received from its correspondent, IPYS can attest to the
difficult situation that Satipo’s independent journalists find themselves
in, since the mayor took office three years ago. There has been an ongoing
open confrontation between the press and the mayor, who reacts with verbal
attacks and threats to any criticism of his management. This situation has
deteriorated even further since the last electoral campaign of the year,
when Santos Rojas received death threats from the mayor.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
guarantees for his safety, and that the responsible parties be punished
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 426 6535Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 426 6657Arturo Durand Panez
Provincial Mayor of Satipo
Fax: +51 64 545 867Florencio Grández Mendoza
Satipo Provincial Public Prosecutor
Does not have a fax. Send appeals to +51 64 24 4425
(Public Prosecutor’s Office in Huancayo, capital of the Junín department)
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
