(IPYS/IFEX) – Issue No 134 of the Arequipa-based weekly “El Búho” was not available for sale to the general public on 16 April 2004. Groups of individuals reportedly began buying up all copies of the weekly at 6:00 a.m. (local time). According to “El Búho” director and journalist Mabel Cáceres, all copies of the weekly […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Issue No 134 of the Arequipa-based weekly “El Búho” was not available for sale to the general public on 16 April 2004. Groups of individuals reportedly began buying up all copies of the weekly at 6:00 a.m. (local time). According to “El Búho” director and journalist Mabel Cáceres, all copies of the weekly had been removed from newsstands by 9:00 a.m.
Newspaper vendors said the weekly was apparently bought up by employees of Arequipa’s San Agustín National University. “Well-dressed men, who were traveling in a van similar to the one the university uses, approached us, asked how many copies [of “El Bújo”] we had and proceeded to buy them all. They claimed they had to send the copies to Congress,” the vendors said.
Valentín Soto Ticona, secretary general of the Arequipa News Vendors Union (Sindicato de Canillitas y Vendedores de Diarios de Arequipa), and the organisation’s secretary, Elvira Basurco, corroborated this information confirming that some members of the union’s board of directors witnessed the mass purchase of “El Búho”.
The issue in question reported that “El Búho” had received an honourable mention from Transparencia Internacional and IPYS in the context of the organisations’ awarding of a Prize for Best Investigative Journalism on a Corruption Case. The weekly was lauded for an investigation carried out by Cáceres on irregularities committed at San Agustín National University, due to mismanagement by University Rector Rolando Cornejo Cuervo. The rector is seeking reelection on 22 April.
As a result of “El Búho”‘s research, the national treasury inspection body (Contraloría General de la República) and the Arequipa Provincial Prosecutor’s Office launched investigations into the university’s administration. Thus far, however, the investigations have not resulted in any charges being filed.
