Peruvian journalist Rafael Léon was sentenced for the crime of defamation on May 3, according to newspaper La República. The sentence, which coincided with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day, requires Léon to pay 6,000 Peruvian soles (about U.S. $1,800) in civil damages and to undergo a one-year probationary period in which he must comply with rules of conduct that include not moving homes and offering to sign a monthly record.
Peruvian journalist Fernando Valencia’s case will be presented before to the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), according to the newspaper La República.
A Chilean magazine is facing a lawsuit for defamation from the country’s top government official.
Documents obtained by judicial order show that the company JBS, one of the largest food company in the world, and another company contracted by it in 2015 sponsored a smear campaign against Brazilian journalist and founder of the nonprofit organization Reporter Brazil, Leonardo Sakamoto. The information was published by Folha de S. Paulo on April 8.
Journalist David Romero Ellner, director of Honduran media outlets Radio Globo and Globo TV, was sentenced on March 14 to 10 years in prison for having committed six crimes of injuria and defamation against former public prosecutor Sonia Gálvez.
The director of Venezuelan newspaper Correo del Caroní, David Natera Febres, was sentenced to four years in prison for crimes of defamation and injuria related to reports published in 2013 that denounced cases of corruption in a state mining company, reported nonprofit organization Espacio Público. Natera Febres was given 10 days to appeal the decision.
Media in the Dominican Republic welcomed a ruling from the country's Constitutional Court that declared as unconstitutional a set of articles that imposed prison sentences on media owners and workers found to be responsible for defamation.
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.
The Association of Journalists of Chile (Colegio de Periodistas de Chile) has called for a change to Chilean law concerning freedom of expression in light of a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a sentence of 18 months in prison for defamation (injurias) for the directors of weekly publication El Ciudadano.
Ecuadorian authorities issued last week an order to detain journalist and activist Fernando Villavicencio after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Villavicencio was found guilty of defaming President Rafael Correa, press freedom organization Fundamedios reported.