The director of Peruvian Press Council (CPP), Rodrigo Salazar, expressed his concern about the project of the Government of José Jerí that proposes to modify the Penal Code to penalize the dissemination of classified information linked to criminal investigations and police actions.
In this regard, he maintained that this is a measure that, since it is not specific, could also affect journalists who disseminate information about investigations. “It is very broad. This applies to a public official, to a prosecutor, to a journalist. (…) “If this becomes a law or the modification of the Penal Code, a prosecutor can easily say: ‘here is a bit of reserved information about police situations’, and it goes against the journalist,” he indicated in an interview with RPP.
For this reason, he considered that it is necessary to “put a specification, a lock, that this does not apply to the disclosure of journalistic information.” Especially when considering that the rule could mean “a protective mantle” for the benefit of the PNP.
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ANP joins the rejection of the bill
For its part, the ANP considered that the initiative goes directly against investigative journalism because “it criminalizes the dissemination of information of public interest and constitutes censorship and persecution of confidential sources. It also violates professional secrecy.”
“Yesterday we heard that they tried to say that they are not referring to journalists, that they are not talking about journalists, that they are talking about justice operators. But let’s see, who spreads that information?”, expressed the president of the ANP, Zuliana Lainez, in dialogue with Exitosa.
The Association also indicated, through a statement, that if this rule were implemented, freedom of information on “criminal investigations of public relevance from sectors that have, for the most part, relevant figures involved in said files” would be attacked.
This intention, they specified, was also observed during the mandates of Pedro Castillo and Dina Boluarte.
On April 14, 2025, then-president Dina Boluarte promulgated Law No. 32301, a rule that grants the State powers of prior control over the media that receive financing from international cooperation, by requiring that their investigations, projects or activities be previously approved by the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI).
For his part, Pedro Castillo and his cabinet promoted the “gag law” during his mandate. This is a rule similar to that proposed by José Jerí: creating the crime of disseminating confidential information in criminal investigations.
