Honduras: local TV news anchor targeted by flawed trial, smear campaign
February 22, 2017
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is very worried about Jairo López, a journalist in the southern city of Choluteca targeted by both a flawed criminal defamation trial and an intimidating smear campaign, and calls on the Honduran authorities to urgently give him protection and ensure the trial is fair.
The presenter of “El Informador,” a news programme on the Choluteca-based Canal 21 TV channel, López is being prosecuted as a result of a complaint by Alcides Alejandro Aguilar Corrales, the owner of Canal 39 TV and an open supporter of the government.
The lawsuit was brought in September 2015 in response to López’s revelations about various cases of alleged corruption, in particular, the alleged diversion of public water supplies by Alcides Alejandro Aguilar Corrales and several politicians and government officials including the speaker of the National Congress.
During the first hearing on 1 February, the judges said they had mislaid the evidence submitted by López’s lawyer. They also expelled representatives sent by Peace Brigades International and local observers from ASOPODEHU and other Honduran human right groups on the grounds that they might “defame the plaintiff.” Despite these grave irregularities, the trial is continuing.
More:
https://rsf.org/en/news/honduras-local-tv-news-anchor-targeted-flawed-trial-smear-campaign