By Liliana Honorato
Bolivian General Félix Rojas, who is under criminal investigation, has filed a lawsuit against a journalist for publishing about the general's alleged corruption, reported the newspaper El Diario.
“This type of publication is a discrediting campaign that is being made to damage the dignity and professional prestige of General Rojas,” said the general's lawyer regarding the work by journalist Luis Mealla of the newspaper La Razon, reported the news agency Eju TV.
Rojas' lawyer also said that the journalist had "dark personal interests" and accused him of “being responsible for sensationalist reports that are not true" for reporting about accusations against the general for "abuse of influence, breach of duties, harmful contracts with the State and uneconomic behavior," reported La Razón.
Meanwhile, Rojas said to La Razón that his lawyer's attitude surprised him and he asked his lawyer to “retract the statements against journalist Mealla,” added La Razón.
At the end of May, another general, the former commanding officer of the National Police of Bolivia, Jorge Santiesteban, accused journalist Marcelo Tedesqui of extortion. The journalist reported that he and his family were threatened.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
