Since the Law Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination took effect in Bolivia Oct. 8, La Patria newspaper of Oruro has published the following disclaimer on Page 3: “We reserve the right to publish or reject any announcement, information, and/or opinion text that could harm our newspaper. As a consequence, one can not accuse this newspaper of discrimination, partiality, self-censorship, or any other abuse of the right to free expression."
The editor of Jornal de Londrina, in Paraná state (south), has petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend a ruling requiring it to pay $353,000 for moral damages to an ex-mayor of Sertanópolis. The editor says the small paper will have to close if it’s obliged to pay.
Bolivian journalists and news media say the controversial Law Against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination, which was sanctioned Oct. 8 to take effect next January, is already being applied.
A Buenos Aires labor court has claimed legal ownership over several of the Spanish company Prisa’s radio holdings in Argentina, in order to guarantee that Radio Continental pays more than $1 million in damages for firing journalist Rolando Hanglin, El Mundo reports. The ruling affects seven radio stations.
Panamanian journalists have joined forces to demand more respect for freedom of expression and to express objections over legal setbacks in the area, reported La Prensa.
The Electoral Court in Mato Grosso state issued an injunction against the state’s largest media company, Gazeta, preventing it from publishing stories that say acting Federal Deputy and current Senate candidate Carlos Abicalil (PT) supports decriminalizing abortion, A Gazeta and Folha de S. Paulo report. The ruling would fine the paper A Gazeta and the TV station Canal 10 more than $58,000 if they fail to comply.
According to Perfil, the legal offensive by the government against the country’s most prolific dailies has taken a new step, as it prepares to open criminal charges against the owner and director of Clárin Group, Ernestina Herrera de Noble and Héctor Magnetto, respectively, and the director of La Nación, Bartolomé Mitre. They are accused of being direct accomplices in crimes against humanity during the Argentine dictatorship (1976-1983).
Military police accompanied by a court official confiscated television sets, cameras, furniture, and even the transmitters of the television channell TV Descalvados, affiliate of the SBT network in the town of Cáceres, in the western state of Mato Grosso, reported Midia News. The seizure, which forced the channel off the air, was court-ordered to pay for "moral damages" inflicted on the city's first lady, Gisele Fontes, according tol Diário de Cuiabá.
Prosecutor Ricardo Bejarano was taken off the investigation of TV journalist William Parra, just days after Bejarano had sought an arrest warrant for the Colombian reporter, accusing him of links to guerrillas, reported the Associated Press (AP).
The prosecution of Bolivia has sued three journalists for "using the media to induce people to commit crimes," stemming from a case of violence and racism against indigenous peasants in the city of Sucre on May 24, 2008, reported Erbol.