Human-Rights Court Denounces Assaults on Free Speech, Wave of Intimidation.
Twenty-two media directors are prohibited from leaving Venezuela and have to show up to court every week, following a lawsuit by National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello against national dailies El Nacional and Tal Cual and the news website La Patilla. Cabello claims these outlets have caused “grave harm” to his “reputation and honor.”
After Cabello filed the suit in April, a Venezuelan court proceeded on May 5 with charges of “aggravated and continuous defamation” against the three media outlets and their owners, who had each republished an article by Spanish newspaper ABC which claimed Cabello was involved in drug-trafficking and corruption schemes.
ABC released the article, also reported by several other local and international media, on January 25. Its author, investigative reporter and Washington correspondent Emili J. Blasco, reportedly received the information from Cabello’s former bodyguard Leamsy Salazar, who claimed that Diosdado Cabello is a kingpin in the Los Soles drug cartel.
The Venezuelan media affected by the measure issued by judge María Eugenia Núñez have yet to be formally notified of the bans. According to the Venezuelan law, once a judge admits a lawsuit, the defendants must be summoned to court, which was yet to take place at time of publication.
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