(IPYS/IFEX) – A new slander campaign against the director of the “La República” daily, Gustavo Mohme Llona, has been launched on the pages of the daily “El Tío”, under its new section titled “Deceitful persons and politics.” Apparently, its aim is to attack journalists and politicians who are opposed to the government. **Updates IFEX alerts […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – A new slander campaign against the director of the “La
República” daily, Gustavo Mohme Llona, has been launched on the pages of the
daily “El Tío”, under its new section titled “Deceitful persons and
politics.” Apparently, its aim is to attack journalists and politicians who
are opposed to the government.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 20 April, 8 April and 2 April 1999, 2 December and
17 April 1998; for background on other cases against Mohme see IFEX alerts
of 10 November, 5 November, 12 May 1998, 11 July, 10 July and 10 June 1997**
Since 31 March 1999, “El Tío” has published at least ten full page articles
with titles and caricatures slandering and insulting Mohme, who is also a
member of Congress.
Various descriptions and references were used to attack Mohme, but most
pointed were those that linked him to the guerrilla movement Movimiento
Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA), calling him a “new white-collar
terrorist”, or stating “Mohme following in Cerpa Cartolini’s footprints” (in
reference to the MRTA leader who led the invasion of the Japanese Embassy in
Lima); other comments made were: “Gustavo Mohme is the opposition’s front
man” and “Mohme’s great sham is discovered”. These are attempts to confuse
public opinion and present Mohme as the promoter of a political coalition
for the opposition between the APRA (American Popular Revolutionary
Alliance) and the Communist Party.
In June 1998, IPYS gathered about two hundred journalists from various media
based in the capital, in an “act of solidarity for the harassed
journalists”. This was an effort to try and stop the campaigns being
promoted in the “El Tío”, “El Chino”, and “El Chato” tabloids, which were
very similar to the one currently underway in “El Tío”. According to various
sources of information and analyses, these three tabloids are financed by
the government through the intelligence services.
In 1998, these dailies launched a plan to misinform the public and discredit
journalists, politicians and personalities of the opposition, especially
those who were opposed to President Fujimori’s re-election. Those who were
then affected by this campaign were: journalists César Hildebrandt, Angel
Páez, Edmundo Cruz, José Arrieta, Cecilia Valenzuela, Fernando Rospigliosi
and Mohme, among others.
It comes as no surprise that the information that appeared in “El Tío” is
identical to that which began to appear at the end of October 1998 on the
Internet page of the Association for the Defense of the Truth (Asociacion
Pro Defensa de la Verdad, APRODEV), as part of another campaign to discredit
the same journalists. In response to this Internet page and with IPYS’
support, seven of the affected journalists recently began legal proceedings
for slander against APRODEV’s legal representative, Argentinian Héctor
Ricardo Faisal.
IPYS is very concerned and is alerting all international organisations
working for press freedom and for freedom of expression as to the state of
independent journalism in Peru which is faced with this campaign, that could
very well intensify as April 2000, the date of the presidential elections,
approaches.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
its origins be carried out
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 426 6535Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
