THE INTER American Press Association (IAPA) last week welcomed a ruling by the Inter-American Human Rights Court ordering Costa Rica to overturn the conviction of journalist Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, on the grounds that his right to freedom of expression and information was violated.
Herrera, from the Costa Rican daily La Nacion, was found guilty in 1999 of criminal libel for reports he had done in 1995 in which, quoting European publications, he alleged corrupt acts by Costa Rican former diplomat Felix Przedborski. Herrera was fined the equivalent of 120 days' wages and his name was placed on the criminal record.
ORDERED TO PAY DAMAGES
La Nacion was ordered to pay damages to Przedborski, remove his name from articles posted on the internet and publish the court's findings.
In March of this year, the IAPA, together with other press organisations, filed an "amicus curiae" (friend of the court) brief with the Inter-American Court saying that the articles published by Herrera in La Nacion were confined to informing the Costa Rican people of already-reported facts about a public official.
The IAPA stressed in the document, signed by the organisation's president, Jack Fuller, and the chairman of its Committee on Freedom of the Press and Informa-tion, Rafael Molina, that "the penalty imposed by the Costa Rican judiciary amounted to a violation of international precepts on freedom of thought and freedom of expression and the public's right to know, essential pillars in a democratic society."
On learning of the Inter-American Human Rights Court's decision overturning Herrera's conviction on the grounds that it violated Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights regarding freedom of thought and freedom of expression, Fuller and Molina jointly declared that the ruling sets a positive precedent and is a victory for freedom of expression, in that the court also ruled that Costa Rican legislation restricting such freedom must be amended.
