(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Luis Lingán Ramírez has been in hiding since 12 November 2004. The journalist believes he was being followed and fears that he could be kidnapped by members of a local civilian patrol in the city of Santa Cruz, Cajamarca region, northern Peru. Lingán told IPYS that he is being targeted because of […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Luis Lingán Ramírez has been in hiding since 12 November 2004. The journalist believes he was being followed and fears that he could be kidnapped by members of a local civilian patrol in the city of Santa Cruz, Cajamarca region, northern Peru. Lingán told IPYS that he is being targeted because of comments he made on his programme, broadcast on Radio HGB station, about the benefits of a mining project that is being developed in the area. His comments were not popular with local citizens who are opposed to the mine.
On 11 November, after his morning programme ended, Lingán was warned by several colleagues that he was being followed by members of the “peasant patrols” or “rondas campesinas” (community-based Andean groups that carry out functions related to local development and serve as intermediaries between farmers and the authorities, created mainly to aid the state in combating terrorism). That same evening, Lingán received a similar warning.
The journalist assured IPYS that the “peasant patrols” kidnap those who “inconvenience” them. Fearing that he could be kidnapped, Lingán decided to go into hiding in a district within the region. He has continued to broadcast his radio programme by telephone from his hiding place.
Lingán has asked the Santa Cruz Subprefecture for protection, claiming that his right to freedom of expression and free movement is being violated.
