A magazine editor in Colombia is facing a prison term after a judge reviewing a complaint against the magazine deemed two published corrections as insufficient, according to the Bogotá-based Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP).
In spite of the fact that "Semana" magazine has issued two corrections concerning information it published on allegations about the influence a particular individual has within Colombia's high courts, a judge reviewing a complaint against the magazine has deemed them insufficient. As a result, , the editor of the magazine, could be sentenced to time in jail.
On April 28 this year, Semana published an article titled 'The 'patrons' of justice' which discussed the relationship that an individual named Ascencio Reyes has with the Federal Attorney General (Fiscal General de la Nación ) and various judges of the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia) and the Superior Council of the Judiciary (Consejo Superior de la Judicatura).
The article referred to the influence that Reyes has in these high circles of the Colombian judiciary and the apparent close relationship he has with various judges. The Semana article surmised about what the result of this might be, taking into account that Reyes also has commercial connections with an individual accused of drug trafficking.
José Alfredo Escobar Araújo, a Superior Court of the Judiciary judge, filed an appeal for legal protection against the magazine's editor, Alejandro Santos Rubino. Escobar Araújo alleged that the article violated his rights of honour, good name and privacy, among others. The appeal highlighted what Escobar Araújo considered to be errors made by the magazine in the publication of the article. On August 11, a criminal court judge ruled in favour of Escobar Araújo and ordered the magazine to publish a correction. In edition number 1372, Semana published the correction in its "Focus" ("Enfoque") section.
On September 12, however, the Bogotá Judicial District Superior Court, ruled that the correction was insufficient, saying that it must be published "in the same font, colours and size of the original incorrect article in order to be considered a correction notice". In addition, it gave exact instructions for how the correction was to be made and the names of the individuals it was to include.
In compliance with this decision, Semana published a new correction in edition number 1380 in its "Current News" ("Actualidad") section. The judge deemed the second correction too to be insufficient and gave the magazine 24 hours to explain why it had not complied with the ruling. He also insisted that the magazine publish the correction on the cover of its next edition and according to the conditions set out by the court. If the magazine fails to do so, Santos could be charged with contempt of court and face possible arrest, along with a sentence of up to six months and a fine of up to the equivalent of 20 months of salary at minimum wage.
FLIP expressed its concern over the case against Semana and Santos. The judges who have ruled on the case are openly disregarding constitutional precedents primarily by demanding exact conditions for the correction and by ordering Semana to make clarifications about people who are not involved in the process, it said.
