Perú

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WHEREAS on June 5, 2009, in the province of Bagua, in the Amazon region, encounters between the National Police of Peru and natives of the area caused the deaths of 24 policemen and 10 civilians. This event is known as the “Baguazo”; WHEREAS authorities at the highest levels of the Peruvian government publicly accused Radio La Voz de Bagua, in the city of Bagua Grande, department of Amazonas, of inciting the violence and causing the deaths; WHEREAS three days later, Radio La Voz de Bagua received notice of its closure, although that official resolution alleged failure to meet technical standards in the Law on Radio and Television; WHEREAS on August 19, 2010, after efforts were made by the Peruvian Press Council, the Inter American Press Association, and other organizations that work in favor of defense of freedom of expression, the Peruvian government reinstated the license of Radio La Voz de Bagua at a meeting held at the headquarters of the Peruvian Press Council, in which then Prime Minister Javier Velásquez Quesquén and then Minister of Transportation and Communication Enrique Cornejo participated. They affirmed that from now on the radio station would have no further impediments and that it would be provided with all means to resolve pending administrative matters; WHEREAS after reinstatement of the license of Radio La Voz de Bagua, a series of administrative actions have begun on the part of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC) that impose conditions on the operation of the station, from demanding payment of abusive fines, submitting an interminable number of documents, plans, studies, etc, and facing a criminal accusation from the Prosecutor of the MTC for “Aggravated Harm to the Radio Spectrum” in detriment to the state; WHEREAS on January 18 the MTC ordered an embargo of the property of Carlos Flores Gorja, manager of Radio La Voz de Bagua, in an amount of 6,500 new soles ($2,300) in payment of fines. The order of the minister arrived after Flores Borja had paid and requested installments on the balance of the debt, so that the financial situation of the station has become precarious as a result of its arbitrary closing in June, 2009; WHEREAS on February 21, 2011, the Provincial Prosecutor of the First Penal Prosecutor’s Office of Utcubamba, Olga del Carmen Bobadilla Terán, brought a charge against Aurora Doraliza Burgos de Flores before the Judge of the Second Penal Court of Preliminary Investigation of the Province of Utcubamba. Ms. Burgos de Flores is the owner of Radio La Voz de Bagua Grande. Two other people were also charged with a Crime against the Commonwealth in the form of Aggravated Harm to the Radio Spectrum, and she requested that they be sentenced to four years of deprivation of freedom; WHEREAS prosecutor Olga Bobadilla has not responded to the evidence submitted by Radio La Voz de Bagua, for which reason at the end of March, attorney Roberto Pereira of the Press and Society Institute submitted a motion of impropriety of action against the Judge of the Second Penal Court of Preparatory Investigation of the Province of Utcubamba, since the occurrences denounced by the Prosecutor do not constitute crimes and are therefore not criminally punishable; WHEREAS principle 7 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states that: “Tariff and exchange policies, licenses for the importation of paper or news-gathering equipment, the assigning of radio and television frequencies and the granting or withdrawal of government advertising may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists”; THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES: to request the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to cease its administrative and criminal harassment against Radio La Voz de Bagua; to exhort the Judge of the Second Penal Court of Preparatory Investigation of the Province of Utcubamba, that within the framework of what existing laws dictate, to dismiss the charges made against Aurora Doraliza Burgos de Flores (owner of Radio La Voz de Bagua Grande); to exhort the President of the Judicial Branch, Dr. César San Martín, to take appropriate measures to assure that no criminal charges be brought against journalists for matters that do not constitute crimes.

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