The police raided a reporter’s house after he investigated an elite Catholic society. A court ordered journalists’ assets frozen following a defamation complaint from a powerful figure. A sports journalist called the head of a soccer club inept, and was sentenced to a year in prison.
And then, last week, a judge sentenced a Peruvian journalist to two years in prison and imposed a $100,000 fine following a defamation lawsuit brought by a powerful, wealthy politician.
Media experts called the decision the most direct threat to freedom of expression in Peru in years. And, they said, it was part of a worrying trend across the region — but particularly strong in Peru — in which powerful figures are using the courts to intimidate and punish journalists who investigate them.
“It absolutely sidesteps the fundamental principles of freedom of expression,” said Ricardo Uceda, who leads the Press and Society Institute of Peru, of the ruling. » | Julie Turkewitz and Mitra Taj | Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Leer en español:
En Perú las cortes se usan ‘como látigos’ para callar a los periodistas : El autor de un libro sobre un empresario y político ha sido sentenciado a dos años de prisión, parte de una tendencia en la que los personajes poderosos emplean las cortes para castigar a sus críticos. »
