Peruvian Blogger Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison For Post About Congressman

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Peruvian blogger José Alejandro Godoy (photo courtesy of ideeleradio.blogspot.com)
Peruvian blogger José Alejandro Godoy (photo courtesy of ideeleradio.blogspot.com)

LIMA, Peru – Popular Peruvian blogger Jose Alejandro Godoy has been sentenced to three years in prison and 120 days of community service for “defamation.”  In addition, Godoy was ordered to pay a fine of 350,000 soles, approximately $125,000 U.S. dollars.  This represents the first time in Peruvian history that such an action has been taken against a blogger.

Former Peru Congressman Jorge Mufarech filed charges against Godoy in 2009 for one of the blogger’s posts.  The post, which was titled “Desde el Tercer Piso” (From the Third Floor), illustrated threats that Congressman Mufarech made against Arzibu Gonzalez, an advisor for Peru’s Nationalist Party.

Godoy published links to numerous documents which tended to substantiate the threat allegations.  One such document was a letter sent from Arzibu to Congressman Fredy Otarola, a member of Peru’s Nationalist Party, detailing the threats.  Although Mufarech demanded that the post be taken down, it was not, and the ex-Congressman filed suit.

Other Peruvian journalists have been outspoken against the ruling.  The Lima-based Press and Society Institute called the ruling “unconstitutional” and “without precedent.”  In a statement, Press and Society Institute stated, “[t]he lack of judicial support for the sentence… as well as the excessive sentence, shows a clear attempt, without precedent, against freedom of the press in the history of Peru. [i]t is the first sentence that has been produced in this country against a blogger.

In perhaps the most powerful outcry of support, Susana Villaran, the likely mayor-elect of Peru’s capital city of Lima, called the conviction “an attack on freedom of expression.”

Godoy is not accepting the verdict without a fight.  Stating “[i]t is an unfair, illegal ruling and doesn’t only go against the Constitution but against international human rights agreements,” the blogger has vowed to appeal the final ruling.

For more information, please see:

Guardian.co.uk – Peru Blogger Jailed for Three Years – 2 November 2010

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas – Peruvian Journalists Condemn Blogger’s Defamation Conviction – 1 November 2010

Peruvian Times – Peru Judge Hits Local Blogger with 3 Year Prison Sentence, First of Kind in Peru – 29 October 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive