The Federation of Journalists of Peru and the Press and Society Institute (IPYS) rejected the bill Executive power, that seeks to penalize the dissemination of tax information.
In a statement, the civil organization stated that the measure “would affect all types of tax investigations”, which it considered to be “clearly unconstitutional”.
In addition, he considered that the project “would rather correspond to an attempt to prevent the numerous accused of the regime from being reported.”
IPYS He said that he will wait until he has the text of the project to pronounce more precisely on it.
In the same sense, the Federation of Journalists of Peru expressed his “categorical” rejection of the bill that the Executive to Congress.
“We reject and condemn this type of journalistic coercion and blackmail of those who report the truth. With this bill, it would be harming the work of investigative journalism, if it is approved in the plenary session of the Legislative“, they pointed out.
Through a statement, the journalistic union expressed its support for the freedoms of information, opinion and expression “in all its forms.” In that sense, they warned that this bill “seeks to sanction up to four years of effective prison.”
“This bill intends to minimize investigative journalism and leave the truth, a basic principle of the press, classify it as a criminal offense and prosecute it in its highest expression. In addition, the acts of corruption of the current government might not be revealed. light, with this legal premise, which would hinder the right to information,” they pointed out.
ANP and College of Journalists of Peru
For its part, the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) joined the rejection of the bill, because “it directly affects journalistic activity in the country.”
“The ANP expresses concern regarding the route that this initiative will follow, as there is full agreement on this matter between the Executive Power and the Legislative Power, which already in February of this year, unanimously approved the opinion of the Justice Commission that penalized the dissemination of testimonies. whose is it engage in effective collaboration”, they indicated.
“At a time when the trend throughout the continent is to make the processes once morest public administration and corruption in which those who exercise or have exercised a public function are involved as transparent as possible, what is happening in the country constitutes a clear regression,” they added.
“The confidentiality of the sources has been essential to reveal in recent decades facts of public interest. Pretending to violate professional secrecy is not only unfeasible, it is unconstitutional. For this reason, we deplore that both the Executive and Legislative Branches, in their capacity as powers of the State, abandon their role as guarantors of rights and freedoms, distorting their own or delegated capacity to legislate,” they concluded.
Meanwhile, from the College of Journalists of Peru They expressed their rejection of the Executive’s initiative and considered that it implies “a latent risk and threat once morest freedom of expression.” As explained in a statement, the project in question affects the right of Peruvian society to be informed and be informed, as stated in article 2, paragraph 4 of the Constitution.
“The Executive’s project, which can well be described as a ‘gag law,’ violates not only national legislation, but also collides with the philosophy and standards of Freedom of Expression and the Rule of Law in the hemisphere that signs the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and that is binding for Peru, as well as the Declaration of Chapultepec when it establishes the principle that there are no free people or societies without freedom of expression and of the press, emphasizing that the exercise of this is not a concession of the authorities, it is an inalienable right of the people”, they pointed out.
“For this reason, the College of Journalists of Peru rejects this bill that only seeks to legalize the secrecy and the intimidation in media cases of corruption that the media, journalists and communicators spread for the good of the moral health of the country”.
Attack on freedom of the press
The head of the Cabinet, Aníbal Torres, announced yesterday, Friday, the presentation to Congress of the bill that creates the crime of disclosure of tax information on criminal cases. The norm -he said- was approved in the last session of the Council of Ministers.
“A bill has been approved that creates the crime of disseminating confidential information in criminal investigations. The criminal investigation in its preliminary stage is reserved. It stops being reserved when it goes to the oral trial. There it is public and there is no reservation, ”he informed at a press conference.
This bill was announced in advance by the Minister of Justice, Félix Chero, last June 13. The official assured that the measure seeks to “protect” the presumption of innocence of those investigated.
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