Freedom House condemns the attack on Peruvian journalist Juan Carlos Yaya Salcedo after he exposed government irregularities in the municipal of Nuevo Imperial through his reporting, and calls for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his attack and for authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Freedom House today released a public letter urging Peruvian president, Ollanta Humala, not to grant a presidential pardon to ex-President Alberto Fujimori, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Freedom House is concerned by reports that journalists from local and national Peruvian media outlets were assaulted on June 14 by police while covering clashes between anti-mining protesters and police in the city of Cajamarca. Protesters were on their 15th day of a strike against the Conga mining project.
Freedom House condemns the prison sentence handed down by a Peruvian criminal court against two journalists on charges of criminal defamation and calls upon the government of Peru to overturn this sentence and to repeal criminal defamation laws which encourage self-censorship, thereby restricting freedom of expression.
