(SPP/IFEX) – The chief justice of the Paraguayan Supreme Court, Raúl Sapena Brugada, announced that the court would reexamine the case against journalist Telmo Ibañez, correspondent for the daily “ABC Color” in Concepcion. On 21 September 2001, Ibañez was sentenced to a fine of 19 million guaranis (approx. US$4,200), for allegedly having attacked the honour […]
(SPP/IFEX) – The chief justice of the Paraguayan Supreme Court, Raúl Sapena Brugada, announced that the court would reexamine the case against journalist Telmo Ibañez, correspondent for the daily “ABC Color” in Concepcion. On 21 September 2001, Ibañez was sentenced to a fine of 19 million guaranis (approx. US$4,200), for allegedly having attacked the honour and reputation of three municipal councillors.
Sapena Brugada told the SPP’s directors that he asked Presiding Judge Juan Pablo Cardozo Notario, of Concepcion, for a report on the Ibañez case, so that he could understand the logic behind the magistrate’s decision to sentence the journalist.
The Supreme Court chief justice made the announcement during a 4 October meeting with the SPP, during which the organisation’s representatives expressed their concern over Judge Cardozo Notario’s ruling.
During the meeting, SPP Secretary-General Alfredo Martínez pointed out that Ibañez was sentenced for publishing articles and editorials on the corruption plaguing the Concepcion Municipality. He suggested that such rulings only serve to intimidate journalists and discourage them from investigating illegal acts. Martínez also noted that Judge Cardozo Notario has shown a complete lack of understanding of the constitutional guarantees for the right to free expression and opinion, and the functions of municipal councillors and those in charge of governmental offices.
SPP officials also met with members of parliament from a number of different parties urging them to see to it that the Magistrates’ Examining Jury (Jurado de Enjuiciamiento de Magistrados) have Judge Cardozo Notario dismissed for his having failed to take into account the relevant constitutional and legal precepts in his ruling against Ibañez. Some of the members of parliament who practice law promised the journalists that they would present a proposal before the Lower Chamber to have the magistrate dismissed by the authority that judges and punishes magistrates who commit errors while carrying out their functions.
On 5 October, Ibañez, accompanied by the SPP officials and members of the organisation’s Concepcion subsidiary, filed an appeal before the Appeals Tribunal, calling for a repeal of Judge Cardozo Notario’s sentence and for his own acquittal. On that day, local journalists and the SPP representatives held a demonstration before the Tribunal, condemning the magistrate’s sentence and municipal councillors Andrés Villalba, Eulogio Echague and Blás Cáceres. These three individuals filed the original complaint against the journalist because, in his articles, Ibañez alleged that they were implicated in corruption at the Concepcion Municipality.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the chief justice of the Supreme Court:
– expressing your hope that the country’s highest court will uphold the right to freedom of expression and opinion
– urging him to ensure that magistrates do not judge journalists unreasonably solely for carrying out their profession
– asking that the matter of Judge Cardozo Notario’s questionable sentence be dealt with via the appropriate channels
Appeals To
Raúl Sapena Bruga
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Asuncion, Paraguay
Fax: +595 21 481 408
E-mail: sprivada@pj.gov.py
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
