13 April 1999

Alert

RSF protests journalist's sentence


Incident details

Eduardo Kimel

journalist(s)

legal action


(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is protesting the sentence given to journalist
Eduardo
Kimel.





**Updates IFEX alert of 9 April 1999**


According to RSF's information, on 8 April 1999, Kimel, independent
investigative journalist, was given a one year suspended prison
sentence for
defamation, and was fined US$20,000 payable to judge Guillermo
Rivarola. In
his book "La Masacre de San Patricio" (the San Patricio massacre), the
journalist criticised the judge for not having sufficiently
investigated the
4 July 1976 assassination of five persons by death squads,
emphasizing
the
fact that noone was arrested for the crime.


In December 1995, a similar verdict was passed, but in November 1996
the
Court of Appeals dismissed the matter, ruling that that the
incriminatory
passages in the book were not defamatory. After judge Rivarola
appealed the
decision, in December 1998 the Supreme Court ruled that the Court of
Appeals
decision had no legal standing and asked that the matter be tried
again.
This latter verdict was recently announced.


RSF is concerned that Kimel's sentence will make independent
journalists
self-censor themselves when it comes to having their research
published,
particularly if it looks closely at the judiciary system during the
time of
the dictatorship (1976-1983). The fine of US$20,000 is dissuasive and
"disproportionate", particularly as one of the Courts that ruled on
the
matter did not consider that there had been harm to the plaintiff.


RSF notes that a prison sentence is considered, by international human
rights entities, a "disproportionate" penalty for crimes related to
expressing an opinion, when the harm suffered by the victim is taken
into
account. In a document dated 14 July 1992, the United Nations Human
Rights
Commission emphasizes that "detention as a penalty for expressing an
opinion
is one of the most reprehensible ways of silencing (an opinion) and,
as
such, is a serious human rights violation." This explains why
currently no
democratic state hands out prison sentences in matters related to the
press.

Recommended Action


Send appeals to the Minister:

  • urging him to do all that is possible so that the recently passed
    verdict
    is reconsidered




    Appeals To



    Raúl Granola Ocampo
    Minister of Justice
    Buenos Aires, Argentina
    Fax: +54 1 328 53 95







    Please copy appeals to the source if possible.





    • Source

    Reporters Without Borders
    47, rue Vivienne
    75002 Paris
    France
    rsf (@) rsf.org
    Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
    Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51

    More on this case

    Inter-American court ruling on Argentine defamation case double-edged, warns IAPA; Uruguayan journalist convicted for truthful reporting 13 June 2008 Inter-American court urges government to void journalist's 1999 libel conviction, reform defamation laws 23 May 2008 RSF protests journalist's sentence 13 April 1999 Heavy sentence handed down against journalist 9 April 1999

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