César Ferreira, Paraguayan journalist for Radio Yuty in the southern city of Caazapá, faces a new defamation charge after the local Court of Appeals ruled in his favor on the previous charge, reported the news site Cuarto Poder. Citing that there was no proof and that witness testimony was inconclusive, the judge annulled the slander and defamation charge against Ferreira last August, according to the Paraguayan Journalists Union.
The union considers the new trial a violation of freedom of expression and supported the journalist. Ferreira was charged with defamation after reading an article published by the newspaper ABC Color on the air on Feb. 17, 2010. "We consider the decision arbitrary and unconstitutional," the union reported in a press release.
