Libel suit by mayor results in nearly four-year ban on newspaper columnist

A court in Valencia, the capital of the northern state of Carabobo, has banned columnist Francisco Pérez of the local daily El Carabobeño from working as journalist for three years and nine months. In its ruling, issued in a libel case on 11 June, the court also ordered Pérez to pay 1,250 ‘‘Tax Units‘‘ (15,500 euros) in damages. The suit, accusing Pérez of insulting a public official, was brought by Valencia mayor Edgardo Parra in response to claims that he gave key positions to members of his family. Pérez made the allegations on 30 March 2009 in his regular column ‘‘En Secreto’’ (“In Secret”), which he has been writing for more than 30 years. Pérez described the court’s ruling as “absurd” and said he would appeal. He had not defamed either the mayor or his family because everyone knew that members of the mayor’s family were working in the city hall, he said. “The mayor never asked me if he could use his right of reply in the newspaper,” Pérez said as he left the court. “I will not retract what I wrote because I have confidence in my sources.” “We condemn the archaic and dangerous nature of the court’s decision,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The ban on working as a journalist is disgraceful and out of all proportion to the alleged offence. Under what principle can journalists be denied the ability to express their views? The ruling is an extraordinary violation of press freedom and, if upheld, could incite journalists to censor themselves.” The ruling was issued the same day that a warrant was issued for the arrest of Guillermo Zuloaga, the head of the privately-owned TV station Globovisión, on charges unrelated to his activities as a media-owner. Zuloaga is separately facing charges of insulting the president in comments made last March.