Miami (January 31, 2023) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) considered as "threat for democracy" in Chile the recent criminal conviction for defamation against journalist Felipe Soto. The organization urged the immediate decriminalization of lawsuits against the press for so-called "crimes against honor."
On January 18, the Court of Guarantee of Concepción, in the south-central part of the country, sentenced Soto, editor of the digital newspaper Resumen, to 61 days in prison for the crime of serious defamation, a sentence commuted to probation for one year, and to pay a fine of 680,000 pesos (approximately US$850). Soto will appeal the ruling.
The case refers to a complaint filed against Soto by the director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Unit in the Bío Bío Region, Rodrigo Daroch, following the publication of an article on July 5, 2022, with information from the Comptroller General's Office, about the public official receiving an extra salary in parallel contracts.
IAPA President Michael Greenspon, global director of Licensing and Print Innovation of The New York Times, United States, said, "This ruling put Chile's democracy at risk and warns us that we must continue to promote what has been part of the IAPA's philosophy that lawsuits against the press for libel and slander, when they involve public officials, should be heard in civil and not criminal jurisdiction."
The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Carlos Jornet, added: "As long as the penalty of imprisonment is maintained there is a risk of limiting the media and journalists' coverage of matters of public interest, for fear of reprisals by public figures and unscrupulous officials." Jornet, the editor of the Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior, warned about the abuse of lawsuits by politicians, public figures, and officials to stop the disclosure of uncomfortable information.
According to the Right to Communication Observatory (ODC), in 2015, less than 1,000 lawsuits were filed in Chile. However, in 2020, it exceeded 2,000 cases.
In 2005, the South American country repealed the crime of defamation but kept libel and slander in the Penal Code in its Articles 412 to 431.
The IAPA officers recalled the provisions of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, "Privacy laws should not inhibit or restrict investigation and dissemination of information of public interest. The protection of a person's reputation should only be guaranteed through civil sanctions in those cases in which the person offended is a public official, a public person or a private person who has voluntarily become involved in matters of public interest. In addition, in these cases, it must be proven that in disseminating the news, the social communicator had the specific intent to inflict harm, was fully aware that false news was disseminated, or acted with gross negligence in efforts to determine the truth or falsity of such news."
The IAPA Chapultepec Index table for August 2021 to August 2022, which measures the state of press freedom in the region, shows Chile in sixth place. It dropped four spots from the previous period. The Chapultepec Index is an annual barometer that measures institutional actions affecting press freedom and freedom of expression in 22 countries in the Americas. The measurement is based on the principles of the IAPA's Chapultepec and Salta Declarations.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.