By Lorenzo Holt, Teresa Mioli and Silvia Higuera
Journalist David Romero could face up to eight years and four months in prison after being found guilty of defamation (injurias and calumnias). Yet, throughout the course of judicial proceedings, the director of Radio Globo has repeated accusations of prejudice and retaliation against him because of his journalistic work.
Romero, director of Radio Globo, was accused of defamation by former public prosecutor Sonia Gálvez, the wife of Assistant Attorney General Rigoberto Cuéllar.
La Prensa previously reported that the accusation against Romero says the journalist delivered “a series of defamatory statements in prejudice of Gálvez for being one of the two prosecutors who ensured that he was convicted of raping his daughter ten years ago.” Romero, a former Liberal Party congressman, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in that case.
On Nov. 13, the court found Romero guilty of six of the 15 charges against him, according to newspaper La Prensa. He will be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2016. He also is prohibited from talking about Gálvez or her husband on radio or television programs.
Following the conviction, Romero said he would exhaust all legal efforts, La Prensa reported.
According to the newspaper, he told reporters outside the courthouse, “What they want is to shut me up, they shut me up today and will shut you up tomorrow.”
On July 23, Romero took refuge at the National Commission for Human Rights after his supporters broke doors and gates to forcefully take him from court and deliver him there. He was in court to give testimony in the defamation case against him, according to AFP.
According to the same AFP story, Romero said that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández gave instructions to the judges in his trial to send the journalist to jail to be killed. Romero claimed it was retaliation connected to his reporting on alleged corruption in the country’s social security administration.
Earlier in May, Romero said he had received threats after reporting about alleged embezzlement that may involve the president, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF for its acronym in French).
The government has said it was not involved in the case against Romero.
Romero has spoken against multiple supposed judicial irregularities and alleged prejudice in his case. For instance, Romero published an interview of a judge who said he had been pressured by another judge, on orders from President Hernández, to convict the journalist, according to C-Libre.
Using social networks and Radio and TV Globo, civil society and political opposition members called for a protest at the Supreme Court on Nov. 13, according to freedom of expression organization C-Libre.
Journalists from Radio Globo and Globo TV have been targets of threats, harassment and death in recent years. Five journalists from the news agencies have been murdered since 2011, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Defamation remains a criminal offense in Honduras. There have been efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean to decriminalize defamation, including calls from the Organization of American States to replace criminal defamation laws with civil laws.
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.
