More than 600 journalists, artists and cultural figures in Argentina have voiced support for journalist Ari Lijalad, who is facing a criminal lawsuit filed by President Javier Milei for “defamation and slander.” The suit stems from an opinion column published May 4 on the news site El Destape, titled “Milei, between hatred of information and Nazi rhetoric.”
El Destape republished the column, this time with more than 600 co-signers. Among them are prominent names like María O'Donnell, Alejandro Bercovich, Pablo Echarri, Roberto Navarro, Eduardo Aliverti, Darío Grandinetti, Pedro Saborido and Cecilia Roth. The group signed Lijalad’s article as a symbolic gesture of solidarity and a defense of press freedom. The piece analyzes authoritarian elements in Milei’s public rhetoric.
El Destape’s editors pointed out that Argentine law excludes defamation and slander from the penal code when it concerns journalistic information of public interest—such as political commentary about the president.
