Peru’s justice condemns journalist to two years in prison after lawsuit by former presidential candidate for book publication

A Peruvian court this Monday sentenced a journalist to two years in “suspended prison” for the crime of aggravated defamation against the former presidential candidate and businessman César Acuña, for the book “Plata como cancha.”

Judge Raúl Vega, of the 30th Criminal Court, decided in a hearing to sentence investigative journalist Christopher Acosta to two years of suspended privative sentence, which is that the convicted person must comply with certain rules of conduct without going to prison.

He will also have to pay a fine of about $ 100,000 as a result of the complaint for the publication of the book, presented in early 2021 by the leader of the Alianza para el Progreso party.

The conviction, which also applies to the publisher Jerónimo Pimentel, will be appealed.

“I am appealing both the criminal conviction and the requirement for civil reparation,” Acosta told the press.

According to the judge, several sentences contained in the book are offensive against the former presidential candidate for the 2021 elections.

Before knowing the decision, the Institute of Press and Society (IPYS) and the Peruvian Press Council (CPP) warned that if the complaint for alleged aggravated defamation against the journalist were successful, it would put at risk the freedom of the press and expression in the country.

“It would be very damaging and an attack” against freedom of expression, the director of IPYS, Adriana León, told reporters.

The Ombudsman’s Office “condemned the use of criminal justice as a mechanism to affect freedom of expression” after the journalist Acosta’s sentence.

The Foreign Press Association in Peru (APEP) indicated in a statement its “concern” at the conviction, “considering that the sentence violates the fundamental principles of journalism, both for the national and international press.”

The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) also regretted that in Peru the lawsuits of public figures and criminal proceedings against journalists continue to be used as a way to stop the dissemination of critical information of public interest.

The organization also asked the Peruvian Congress to legislate “urgently” to decriminalize crimes against honor.

“(This ruling) confirms our complaints about how in Peru and other countries, such as Panama and Brazil, there is an epidemic of lawsuits that officials use to gag journalists and the media to avoid criticism and that corruption cases come to light and other issues of public interest, ”IAPA President Jorge Canahuati said in a statement.

Carlos Jornet, president of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, stressed that, “when it comes to public figures, criminal actions violate international jurisprudence and tend to have a discouraging effect against freedom of expression and of the press. ”.

Jornet recalled that the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an “important reference on the matter, by discouraging the use of criminal sanctions.”

He referred to Article 10 of said Declaration, which establishes that “… The protection of reputation must be guaranteed only through civil penalties, in cases in which the offended person is a public official or public or private person who is has voluntarily involved in matters of public interest ”.

Canahuati and Jornet indicated that the “Peruvian Congress must urgently legislate to prevent politicians from using the judicial system to dismantle processes that end up being used to criminalize journalism” on actions by public persons and issues of public interest.

Acosta, head of the Investigation Unit of the Latina Noticias channel, argued that the statements contained in the book, an investigation into Acuña’s life and business career, come from public sources and from newspaper archives.

Both Acosta and Pimentel said they will appeal the sentence. (I)