A Bolivian judge shelved legal proceedings against journalist Humberto Vacaflor that were started after President Evo Morales filed a case against the journalist for criminal defamation.
The suit concerned a statement Vacaflor made linking Morales to the 2000 murder of a policeman and his wife. At the time of the deaths, Morales was a congressman and leader of coca farmers. The president was excluded from liability in the case in 2002, but a former official made a statement earlier this year saying that Morales was at a meeting where the murder was decided, according to EnlacesBolivia.net.
At the time, the Inter American Press Association called the lawsuit “intimidation,” and the Committee to Protect Journalists urged Morales to drop the complaint. According to CPJ, Vacaflor told the organization he wanted the case to be tried in a court that specifically handles cases involving the press.
However, Judge René Delgado refused to transfer the case to this kind of court, Erbol reported.
As part of the case, Vacaflor recanted his statements about Morales after being ordered by the judge to do so, according to La Razón. As reported by Erbol, the journalist "acknowledged that he was wrong in not mentioning that his claim was based on testimonies of the time."
Vacaflor said, “I take it back, I really take it back. What can I do?, the system is so powerful,” the publication reported.
El Deber reported that Morales said at a press conference, “it is forgiven, it is excused, I don't have problems with it, but he needs to tell the truth.”
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.
