(FLIP/IFEX) – On 5 February 2007, a criminal court judge in San Andrés, the capital of the San Andrés y Providencia department, ordered several local media outlets to not report on a court order reopening an investigation into alleged corruption. The gag order applies to five radio stations – RCN Radio, Caracol Radio, La Voz […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 5 February 2007, a criminal court judge in San Andrés, the capital of the San Andrés y Providencia department, ordered several local media outlets to not report on a court order reopening an investigation into alleged corruption. The gag order applies to five radio stations – RCN Radio, Caracol Radio, La Voz de Las Islas, Radio Leda Internacional, Radio Impacto Estéreo – and the weekly “The Archipiélago Press”.
The measure was taken after the criminal court judge, Alfonso Gómez Nieto, agreed to examine a request for an injunction presented by lawyer Hernán Nisimblat Álvarez. The injunction request seeks to prevent several media outlets from reporting on the decision by a prosecutor’s office in Bogotá to reopen an investigation into corruption allegedly involving Nisimblat Álvarez. The lawyer claims that reporting on the latter decision would violate his right to a good reputation and to due process. Three days prior to the 5 February court order, “The Archipiélago Press” had already published the information about the decision by the prosecutor’s office.
According to “The Archipiélago Press” director César Augusto Pizarro, “it is worrying that these kinds of rulings keep being made, given that we, as regional media outlets, are just getting by, financially.”
On 25 January, a judge in Barranquilla ordered regional newspaper “El Heraldo” to suspend its reporting on alleged links between the company Métodos y Systemas and paramilitary groups. The temporary gag order was issued after the newspaper published, on 21 January, a special report on that topic; the company then requested an injunction to prevent the newspaper from publishing any further news on the topic. On 1 February, the judge ruled in favour of “El Heraldo” on the company’s injunction request, thereby lifting the gag order (see IFEX alerts of 7 February and 30 January 2007).
FLIP is concerned that these kinds of court decisions are becoming a new form of control, exercised prior to publication, over the content of media coverage. Article 20 of the Constitution forbids any kind of censorship, and only allows for some kind of responsibility and possible penalties for content to be determined after publication. Therefore, FLIP urges Judge Nieto to reverse his decision, which restricts the right of citizens to receive public information.
