Paraguay

Resolution of the Midyear Meeting Quito, Ecuador WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Paraguay ordered Aldo Zuccolillo, editor of the newspaper ABC Color, to pay a fine equivalent to $250,000—$125,000 to the government and $125,000 to compensate the complainant—in a defamation case brought by Juan Carlos Galaverna, an influential senator for the ruling Colorado Party WHEREAS the Supreme Court not only upheld the rulings handed down by the trial and appeals courts but also added the compensation for the complainant WHEREAS the case stemmed from articles that dealt exclusively with the public activity of Senator Galaverna WHEREAS the Supreme Court found that ABC Color had damaged the “good name” of the ruling-party legislator, despite the fact that he is one of the figures who is most called into question by various people and organizations in Paraguay WHEREAS Senator Galaverna is a politician who exerts tremendous influence on the Supreme Court; his recent birthday party, which resembled a political event, was attended by three members of the Supreme Court who later voted to convict the editor of ABC Color WHEREAS the Supreme Court’s ruling against the defendant ignored the issue of actual malice, which is a necessary condition for holding journalists criminally liable for their reporting WHEREAS Article 4 in the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes, “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly.” THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to express to the Paraguayan Supreme Court its condemnation of the violation of principles that safeguard freedom of the press and freedom of expression to state that this ruling sets an ominous precedent for freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Paraguay and that it shields public officials from investigative reporting on their handling of public affairs to urge the Paraguayan president and legislators to uphold press freedom and refrain from subjecting the work of journalists to restrictions that would nullify rights and guarantees set forth in the Constitution and current legislation.