After 40 years without threats of oppression, the press in Honduras has experienced serious blows in the past four months.
One journalist dead, one found guilty and sentenced and another one forced to publish a court settlement prohibiting mention of the plaintiff’s name are all new situations. In addition, several charges and lawsuits have been brought against journalists, and law amendments have been proposed that weaken the work of the press.
The main events during this period are the following:
On February 5, journalist Renato Álvarez was convicted after having been indicted for defamation with implications of libel.
Álvarez, an anchorman in the program “Frente a Frente” from the Televicentro network, was convicted of defamation by a court in Francisco Morazán for revealing an unsigned document with the names of people allegedly linked to drug trafficking.
Álvarez had gone on trial on the same charges on January 30, and the court acquitted him of the same charges for which he was convicted in the second trial, a contradiction that has been a topic of debate and protests by various organizations, especially the press. The journalist was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, and his constitutional rights for managing his assets, voting and parental authority over his two children were taken away. In addition, he was ordered to pay court costs.
An interesting aspect of this was the threats made by the prosecutor, Antonio Ocampo Santos, who put pressure on the court, saying that if the accused, former legislator Julio Eduardo Sarmiento, was declared free of responsibility, that would mean that his client was guilty of drug trafficking, and that if this was the case, it had to be so proven. If it was not, his good name would be tainted. He then added that “in the Middle Ages, honor was cleansed with blood.”
In the case of journalist Rodrigo Wong Árevalo, president and director of the television program “Abriendo Brechas”, and of four national magazines, there is a conciliation letter with former President Rafael Callejas (1990-94) in which the journalist pledges not to make “value judgments” about the past or future in cases of alleged corruption by the former president that have already been tried. That conciliation, published in full pages of national newspaper, was not well accepted by the press, which considers it part of a drive against free press.
Two other journalists await trial under the legal concept of libel and defamation, Adolfo Hernández, director of the television program “No se dejen”, and Eduardo Maldonado from “Hale como habla”, both from Channel 11.
The lawsuits against journalist Arnulfo Aguilar, director of Radio Uno, filed by former magistrate Thelma Zerón, continue.
There is also a suit against journalist Serapio Umanzor for news reports saying legislator Francisco Herrera Donnineli and his family participated in the illegal appropriation of l private land.
In November, journalist Germán Rivas, director of a television program in Santa Rosa de Copán, in the western part of the country, was killed. The journalist was well known for his denunciations of drug trafficking. Three months after the murder, police have detained two suspects and identified others.
During its first session, The National Congress approved the legal concept of habeas data written in a confusing and manipulative way. Its purpose is to prevent the media from publishing cases when the persons involved appear before the Supreme Court and so request it. This legal concept is contained in an amendment to the Constitution of the Republic that needs to be ratified during another legislative period, which has already begun.
Article 182 recognizes the legal concept and states. (a).(b) Habeas Data: In order to obtain access to information; prevent its transmission or disclosure; rectify inaccurate or incorrect data, update information; demand confidentiality and elimination of false information; regarding any archives or registries, private or public, in any media, conventional, electronic or computer, that produce damage to the good name or personal, family or institutional privacy, as well as damage to self-image.
The actions of Habeas Corpus and Habeas Data will be exercised without the need for power or any formality, verbally or in writing, using any medium, during work days or hours and free of charge.
The officials of judicial bodies who do not accept these actions will incur criminal and administrative liability.
Habeas Data is a guarantee that protects rights such as honor, good reputation, privacy and the right to information, but under no circumstances can it affect journalistic databases or sources of information. In the case of Honduras, the law that was passed clearly establishes that the transmission and disclosure of information can be prevented.
Following this trend, amendments have been introduced to the Electoral Law and the law that governs political organizations, and these are now being discussed in the National Congress. These amendments are aimed at forcing the media to obtain authorization from the National Electoral Court before publishing any political ads or surveys.