Miami, March 10, 2022 — Peru\u2019s Congress should reject a bill that would criminalize reporting based on leaked information from informants cooperating in criminal investigations, as it would negatively impact journalists\u2019 ability to operate, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On February 23, the Commission of Justice and Human Rights unanimously approved a bill<\/a> that would amend several articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure<\/a> and the penal code<\/a> regarding \u201ceffective collaborators,\u201d according to media<\/a> reports<\/a> and a statement<\/a> by the Lima-based regional group Institute of Press and Society (IPYS). An \u201ceffective collaborator\u201d is someone who agrees to provide evidence for the prosecution in return for judicial lenience, although they are not always subject to the criminal investigation or proceeding, according to the Peruvian Prosecutor\u2019s Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the proposed changes in the bill<\/a>, anyone who reveals, even partly, the identity of an \u201ceffective collaborator\u201d or the content of their testimony faces a prison sentence of between four and six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Peruvian Congress must reject this bill about \u2018effective collaborators,\u2019 as it risks criminalizing reporting based on leaked information from informants cooperating in criminal investigations,\u201d said Natalie Southwick, CPJ\u2019s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, in New York. \u201cA blanket prohibition on the publication of information stemming from the testimonies of informants, which can be of clear public interest, is incompatible with freedom of the press.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past, informants\u2019 testimonies have been leaked to journalists who then undertake their own investigations, according to Adriana Le\u00f3n, director of Information Freedoms at IPYS, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Le\u00f3n added that these testimonies were essential for the investigative reporting done by the Peruvian press in uncovering corruption in the country, especially in the well-known Lava Jato\/Odebrecht <\/a>and Montesinos<\/a> <\/a>cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposal is now ready for debate and vote before the plenary session of Congress, which could happen at any time now, according to Le\u00f3n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ contacted the Peruvian Congress for comment by email, but the request went unanswered.<\/p>\n\n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
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