On February 2, 2004, Judge Guillermo Félix Díaz made his decision to censor the editors of El Tribuno, under the threat of being fined, ordering them “to abstain from using expressions, sentences, phrases, or words, that could influence a presumption of innocence or publish the picture of Francisco José Alvarez,” accused of murder, but whose case was dismissed because of a legal technicality.
The Chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, stated, “We are concerned about the way a judge can take such a serious measure that restricts freedom of the press and prevents a newspaper from reporting on an important issue to the public.”
The ruling, on the request of Alvarez’s brother who is an attorney, covers “articles, commentaries, signed or unsigned, whatever the circumstance, relating to the acts that were investigated” in the criminal case, whose details captured the attention of the local community. Some government officials in Salta have asked that they open a new investigation.
“The serious issue is that he deliberately is attempting to silence the press so that they cannot make an opinion, which goes against inter-American doctrine, such as the Declaration of Chapultepec and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Organization of American States, that guarantee the right to information and prohibit prior censorship,” added Molina, from El Nacional newspaper in the Dominican Republic.
Molina stressed the importance that this press restriction be reversed so that citizens of Salta do not have their right to information violated.
FUENTE: nota.texto7
