|
|
|
57th General Assembly
Washington, D.C., October, 12-16,
2001
|
|
|
|
Country-by-Country
Reports
|
PUERTO RICO
The media continue to seek greater access to coverage
of events on Vieques Island. Several journalists have been attacked while trying
to report. Some court cases involving journalists were settled. There has been
progress in the discussion of a bill to grant the media more access to judicial
information and other official documents, without need for a prior court order.
There was also a dispute involving the request for access to court documents
in the divorce suit filed by the governor of Puerto Rico.
On August 2, Thomas Van Hourtyvre, a photographer with The Associated Press'
San Juan bureau, was shot in the arm with a rubber bullet fired by a soldier.
Van Hourtyvre was covering a protest demonstration by a group of youths attempting
to enter Campamento García, an area on Vieques declared off limits by
the military.
Most local media have prohibited their journalists from entering restricted
areas on Vieques, to avoid their being arrested and facing criminal charges.
A local court dismissed the libel suit against El Vocero newspaper, filed by
an individual whose published photo had identified him as a drug trafficker
arrested by federal law enforcement officers during a drug raid. The court ruled
that cases where the immediacy of a news story is preponderant, such as in one
resulting from a law enforcement raid, journalists are under no additional obligation
to verify their information beyond the data already provided by the agents in
charge of the operation.
Puerto Rican Governor Sila María Calderón filed for divorce from
her husband of 23 years, Adolfo Kranz. The court has sealed the documents in
the suit and Gov. Calderón has refused comment.
In a related action, Kranz, an insurance company executive, filed a formal complaint
with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Televicentro Corp.,
Canal 4's owner LIN Television and Antulio "Kobo" Santarrosa, whose
stage character is known as "La Comay." Kranz accuses Santarrosa of
uttering malicious lies by saying that he had had an extramarital affair.
In July, several journalists who were attacked by a group of police officers
while covering a court hearing for six members of the Tactical Operations Unit,
accused of police brutality, were ordered to appear before an administrative
hearing at the general headquarters of the Puerto Rican police. That case is
still in court.
 questions
or comments? e-mail us
Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association.
All rights reserved.
. | |
|
