WHEREAS
there have been reports of anomalies in the judicial proceedings for defamation against journalists and media companies whose sentences include high fines and even jail time
WHEREAS
in the lawsuit for aggravated defamation against Juan Carlos Tafur, the former editor of the daily Correo, the Supreme Court upheld its August ruling finding him guilty, because of the publication of a series of signed articles, and even though it did not determine criminal responsibility it reserved the conviction, making it subject to certain criteria of conduct and ordered a large payment for civil reparations
WHEREAS
the nine cases pending before La Libertad Superior Court brought by Supreme Court Justice Walter Vásquez Vejarano, the former head of the judiciary, and his relatives against Rolando Rodrich Sarango and Luis Bahamonde Amaya, the editor and publisher, respectively, of the newspaper Correo de Trujillo, originated with journalistic reports about irregular judicial interference in corruption cases
WHEREAS
an acting judge of a Lima criminal court sentenced La República editor Gustavo Mohme, journalists Ángel Páez Salcedo and Edmundo Cruz Vílchez, and cartoon artist Carlos Carlín Tovar Samanez to two years in prison and ordered them to pay 50,000 soles in civil reparations for aggravated defamation through the printed press because of a series of news articles based on proven facts
WHEREAS
Principle 1of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant, it is an inalienable right of the people
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, 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 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to ask the judicial authorities to resolve cases involving journalists and the media, applying the norms of due process, and taking into consideration the right of society to be informed and to ensure that the public interest prevails over the right to privacy of authorities and public officials, according to case law of the Peruvian Constitutional Court.
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Madrid, Spain