According to what was reported, the journalist was summoned to testify at police stations due to the content of an article that includes complaints and testimonies from residents of Punta Colorada about the actions of a civil society organization. The summons was made under article 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, without prior intervention by the Prosecutor’s Office, and gave rise to an interrogation focused on the content of the journalistic publication.
For Cainfo, this type of action is particularly worrying. Summoning a journalist to a police station to testify about the content of a journalistic article goes against international standards on freedom of expression, developed by the Inter-American Human Rights System, which establish that criminal sanctions—and, in general, state interventions of a coercive nature—against journalistic expressions can only be justified in exceptional situations, such as when the existence of actual malice is proven.
Likewise, these practices ignore the current regulatory framework in Uruguay. Law No. 18,515 establishes that the interpretation and application of civil, procedural and criminal norms regarding expression, opinion and information must be carried out in accordance with the American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and, especially, the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This framework requires extreme guarantees when expressions linked to matters of public interest and the practice of journalism are at stake.
Cainfo warns that actions such as police summoning journalists for the content of their articles can have an inhibiting effect on the exercise of journalism and freedom of expression. The possibility of being summoned to testify before the Police for journalistic publications, even when it does not result in a sanction, can encourage self-censorship and affect the fundamental role of the press in a democratic society. The protection of honor and reputation is a legitimate objective, but it must be channeled through means compatible with human rights standards and with full respect for press freedom.
EL ECO expresses its support for Cainfo’s statement.
