Peru: CFWIJ Condemns The Legal Harassment Against Maritza Roxana Ramírez Huertas
Location: Peru, Jaén
Date: September 22, 2021
Director of the newspaper Now Jaén, Maritza Roxana Ramírez Huertas was served a legal notice for the news coverage her platform reported about a police complaint about psychological violence, filed by an official of the judiciary. She was legally accused of spreading misinformation. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns this attempt to silence the journalist. We reiterate once again; journalism is not a crime.
On August 27, the president of the Superior Court of Justice of Lambayeque, Juan Riquelme Guillermo Piscoya, sent a notice letter that accused the journalist of having disseminated "a completely false statement”. The letter referred to the coverage, which reports a police complaint about psychological violence, filed by an official of the judiciary in Jaén against Guillermo Piscoya.
The magistrate claimed that disseminating the existence of the complaint damages its reputation. If the news platform does not rectify the information, they will proceed to "initiate the corresponding legal actions to safeguard the honour and prestige."
This is not the first time that Maritza Ramírez and the newspaper Now Jaén have faced reprisals for her journalistic work. The journalist is currently facing a judicial process for slander and defamation after being sued by Gilmer Robinson Jara Vergara, Superior Prosecutor of the Superior Mixed Prosecutor's Office of Jaén.
The case dates back to the end of August 2020 about reporting a lunch between the prosecutor and the provincial mayor of Cutervo, investigated for alleged acts of corruption in the first administration. The second one was reporting on the status of the burgomeister's judicial process.
According to the complaint file, these publications along with posting on social networks of the newspaper was a crime of "showing the systematic purpose of damaging honour and reputation." Because of the accusation, the prosecutor requested compensation of 400 thousand Soles.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism expresses solidarity with Maritza Roxana Ramírez Huertas. We consider these practices to attempt to silence and intimidate journalists for revealing the truth. We demand Peruvian authorities put an end to legally harassing the journalists.
La periodista Maritza Roxana Ramírez Huertas, directora del diario Ahora Jaén, es blanco de hostigamientos luego de difundir informaciones sobre altos funcionarios de justicia de la provincia de #Jaén (región #Cajamarca).
— ANP Perú (@ANP_periodistas) September 10, 2021
Más: https://t.co/fRHKQWJgjr pic.twitter.com/T07MaDu1Lg
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.