(IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 April 1999, at approximately 8:35 a.m. (local time), Fernando Santos Rojas received death threats while he was in the recording booth directing his programme, “Libertad de Prensa” (Freedom of the Press), on Satipo’s radio Estudio 99. This time, the threats came from the mayor’s brother. Some of the mayor’s brothers had […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 April 1999, at approximately 8:35 a.m. (local time),
Fernando Santos Rojas received death threats while he was in the recording
booth directing his programme, “Libertad de Prensa” (Freedom of the Press),
on Satipo’s radio Estudio 99. This time, the threats came from the mayor’s
brother. Some of the mayor’s brothers had come to the radio station to
clarify their responsibility in response to an accusation that had been made
against them in an interview.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 26 April and 21 April 1999**
According to information received from IPYS’ correspondent in that city,
Luis Pariona, during an interview carried out with Roger Arauco, he
suggested that Arturo Durand Panez and his brother Luis (mayors of Satipo
and of the Llaylla district respectively) were implicated in fraud in which
the organisation CICAB swindled the Satipo Provincial Municipality of
US$21,000, money that had been marked for projects that were never carried
out.
Shortly afterwards, Luis Durand arrived at the radio station, asking for his
right to reply to this accusation on the air, and this request was granted
by Santos Rojas, director of the programme. From then on tempers flared and
what began as an interview turned into a very heated discussion. Later,
Miguel, another of the mayor’s brothers and a medical surgeon, arrived at
the station and went to the recording booth.
As IPYS was told by Pariona, who was following events on the radio, Santos
Rojas stated on the air that Miguel Durand was threatening him and
journalists Abel Robles and Nelly Castro with gestures and movements
indicating that he was going to cut their throat. In response, Santos Rojas
asked his listeners for help. Many of them arrived soon afterwards. At the
door of the station, they met up with members of the mayor’s family, leading
to a confrontation that luckily did not have more serious repercussions.
On Saturday, 17 April, mayor Durand stopped his car in front of journalist
Ernesto Chuchon’s business establishment. The mayor was accompanied by his
security personnel. He had a defiant attitude and began gesturing and posing
in such a way that the journalists who were there interpreted his actions as
an attempt to intimidate them.
As a result, workers of the press and particularly Santos Rojas and Chuchon,
general manager of radio Estudio 99, are concerned because they have become
the target of threats from the mayor and his family members. Some
journalists have said that the mayor – who, according to them, has a
reputation of being a “gangster” – would not hesitate to carry out his
threats. They are asking for guarantees that would protect them and their
ability to freely carry out their reporting.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
to
the journalists and that the responsible parties be punished
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Lima, Peru
Fax +51 1 426 6535Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Lima, Peru
Fax: +51 1 426 6657Arturo Durand Panez
Provincial Mayor of Satipo
Satipo, Peru
Fax +51 64 54 5867Florencio Grández Mendoza
Provincial Public Prosecutor of Satipo
Does not have a fax. Send appeals to + 51 64 64 5461 (communal telefax) or
to +51 64 24 4425 (Office of the Prosecutor of Huancayo, capital of the
department of Junín)
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
