**Updates IFEX alert of 29 May 2000** (RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Luis Ángel González Macchi, RSF protested “the closure of 2 radio stations and the arrest of 3 information professionals, following the declaration of a state of emergency on 19 May”. RSF also stated its concern over the presidential decree ordering journalist […]
**Updates IFEX alert of 29 May 2000**
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to President Luis Ángel González Macchi, RSF protested “the closure of 2 radio stations and the arrest of 3 information professionals, following the declaration of a state of emergency on 19 May”. RSF also stated its concern over the presidential decree ordering journalist Hugo Ruiz Olazar’s arrest on the accusation that he participated in the attempted coup d’état on 18 and 19 May 2000. RSF called on the president to “use all his power to ensure that Radio Asuncion and Radio Yvytyruzú FM can resume broadcasting” and that “the four arrested information professionals are freed or acquitted if the charges held against them turn out to be press crimes”. RSF is concerned about statements made by the minister of the interior which referred to the fact that Ruiz Olazar would also be prosecuted for “a series of events and behaviours.” Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, recalled that “the state of emergency declared in Paraguay should not jeopardise press freedom in the country.”
According to information obtained by RSF, Miguel Fernández and Adriana Fernández, owners of Radio Asuncion, were arrested on 19 May and the station was closed down by members of the security forces, who allegedly ransacked the offices. Miguel and Adriana Fernández are accused of supporting former General Lino Oviedo, author of an attempted coup d’etat in 1996, and suspected instigator of the attempt to overthrow the government on the nights of 18 and 19 May. Also on 19 May, Radio Yvytyruzú FM, a station in the Villarica region, had to shut down due to the intervention of the security services. Apparently Gustavo Musi, the station’s director, is in hiding. Juan Carlos Bernabé, director and owner of Radio Nanawa and supporter of Oviedo, was also arrested on 19 May. Finally, Albert Robles, a correspondent with the daily “Última Hora” in Caazapá, was allegedly questioned on 20 May and detained for several hours by the police.
Furthermore, on 20 May, President González Macchi ordered Ruiz Olazar’s arrest. Ruiz Olazar is a reporter for the daily “ABC Color”, and a correspondent with l’Agence France-Presse and the Argentine daily “Clarín”. Since 20 May, Ruiz Olazar has been hiding in the offices of “ABC Color”. In a 22 May press conference, Minister of the Interior Walter Bower declared that the journalist is accused of “violating constitutional articles and the social norms of cohabitation”. The minister indicated that the accusations against the journalist did not only pertain to the coup d’etat, but also to “a series of events and behaviours.”
On 19 May, the Paraguayan government declared a state of emergency after an attempted military coup d’état, attributed to Oviedo, failed.
