Miami (August 19, 2026) — The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) expresses its deep concern over and condemnation of the prolonged judicial persecution faced by Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz Cruz, who since 2018 has been the target of multiple legal actions related to her investigations into the Sodalitium of Christian Life and other matters of public interest, representing a systematic pattern of intimidation aimed at undermining her journalistic work.
The most recent action occurred this week, when the Asociación Civil San Juan Bautista (ACSJB) filed an aggravated defamation complaint against Ugaz over publications that, according to the organization, contain false statements, inaccuracies, and unsupported allegations that allegedly harmed its honor and reputation. The complaint adds to the proceedings for alleged illicit enrichment initiated against the journalist in April 2023 by Luciano Revoredo, director of La Abeja, as well as other criminal complaints filed in recent years, including for defamation and money laundering.
Since 2018, Ugaz has faced a succession of accusations and legal proceedings that, according to her legal representatives, have generated constant financial and professional pressure, as well as smear campaigns, digital harassment, threats, and invasions of her privacy linked to her journalistic work.
“The assault on me for my journalistic work from 2018 through 2026 continues. I have been subjected to what I consider judicial harassment by the Sodalitium for eight years because I investigated its financial dealings,” Ugaz said upon learning of the latest legal action filed against her. Although the Sodalitium has not been the direct complainant in these proceedings, the actions have been brought by individuals linked or close to the Catholic group, suppressed by the Holy See in 2025, among other reasons, for “sectarian behavior” and the absence of a divinely originated charism.
The IAPA stressed that the succession of legal proceedings against a journalist over the content of investigations of public interest represents a serious form of pressure on the practice of journalism. In addition to imposing an economic, personal, and professional burden, this type of litigation can have a chilling effect on other journalists investigating institutions or individuals with economic, political, or religious power.
Following an Al Jazeera report in which the journalist did not participate or have any editorial involvement, three people connected to the Sodalitium took legal action against her: Carlos Alberto Gómez de la Torre, a member of the Asociación Civil San Juan Bautista, whose complaints were dismissed or became time-barred; José Antonio Eguren, then Archbishop of Piura and Tumbes and a member of the Sodalitium, who withdrew a defamation complaint following intervention by the Holy See; and Revoredo of La Abeja, who has been identified as having ties to the Sodalitium's circle.
The IAPA is particularly concerned about a court order issued in 2023 and kept confidential, of which Ugaz and her legal counsel only became aware in 2024. The measure ordered the lifting of the confidentiality of her communications and required telecommunications companies to provide information about communications maintained by the journalist between January 1, 2013, and December 30, 2020. Surveillance of a journalist's communications and any measure that could compromise the confidentiality of journalistic sources pose serious threats to press freedom and the practice of investigative journalism.
“When lawsuits, criminal defamation laws, and administrative mechanisms are used not to ensure justice but to silence scrutiny, strategic litigation becomes a tool of control designed to wear down and intimidate independent voices,” warned IAPA President Pierre Manigault.
Manigault, of Evening Post Publishing Inc. in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, added: “No journalist should be subjected to an endless chain of legal proceedings for investigating and publishing matters of clear public interest. When the judicial system is used to financially exhaust, intimidate, or discredit a journalist, press freedom is being directly undermined.”
Martha Ramos, chair of the IAPA Press Freedom and Information Commission and of the Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), said: “Ugaz's case demonstrates the serious risks faced by investigative journalism when those who wield power or have access to resources use the courts to pursue those who investigate them. Seeking access to a journalist's communications and compromising the confidentiality of her sources constitutes a particularly serious threat to the practice of journalism.”
IAPA officials urged Peruvian authorities to prevent the judicial system from being weaponized against journalists because of the content of their investigations and to ensure that any action that could affect the confidentiality of journalistic sources is subject to strict standards of legality, necessity, and proportionality.
Meanwhile, Ugaz expressed confidence that “Peru's judicial authorities will do everything possible to uphold the rule of law in the country and will cooperate with other international institutions, such as the Holy See, in its fight against international economic and financial corruption.”
An international IAPA mission that visited Peru in 2025 warned of “growing hostility toward independent media, judicial persecution of critical journalists, and the systematic use of disinformation and attacks on social media,” practices that, according to the organization, create an adverse climate for the practice of journalism.
The IAPA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and freedom of expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 media outlets in the Western Hemisphere and is headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States.
