Given the alerts for the gag bill presented yesterday by the Executive Branch, the Peruvian Press Council made a call to Congress of the republic to shelve the initiative that seeks to punish judges, prosecutors, lawyers or police officers who disclose confidential fiscal information on criminal cases to journalists with up to four years in prison.
The agency warned that, if approved, the public will not be able to know, through the media, the fiscal investigations that are being carried out for corruption cases, such as the Lava Jato case, The White Necks and those related to President Pedro Castillo and his entourage.
“A government investigated for alleged cases of corruption wants to prevent citizens from being informed about it”, the CPP said in a statement.
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For her part, the President of the Power of attorneyElvia Barrios, argued that said bill could imply that journalists are considered instigators or accomplices of the crime.
Also, for the Ombudsmanit is “unreasonable” and a “freedom of information risk. Lawyer Andrés Calderón, a specialist in freedom of information, has pointed out that the initiative “presumes that all information about a criminal process must be secret, when the rule must be publicity in accordance with the Constitution, and the reserve is the exception”.
Finally, the CPP warned that if Congress approved this bill, or any other with similar content, “would be shielding the president and his close collaborators today investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office”.
