Former mayor acquitted again of ordering journalist's murder

Luis Valdez Villacorta, the former mayor of Pucallpa (the capital of the east-central region of Ucayali), has been acquitted for the second time of masterminding the murder of radio Frecuencia Oriental journalist Alberto Rivera Fernández in Pucallpa on 21 April 2004. Valdez was acquitted on 8 February by a Lima criminal court at the end of a controversial trial marked by irregularities. The court said it “did not find sufficient evidence” to link him to Rivera’s murder. The court also acquitted Solio Ramírez Garay, a former Pucallpa official, on the same charge. Rivera’s family has accused the court of ignoring evidence presented during the trial. Carlos Rivera, the family’s lawyer, said no account was taken of the fact that the victim was murdered in connection with his work as a journalist. He added that the family would appeal against the acquittal. Alberto Rivera was gunned down shortly after accusing Valdez on the air of being involved in drug trafficking. The alleged hit men were arrested and convicted of carrying out the killing. Their statements pointed to Mayor Valdez as the person who ordered the murder. However, the court ruled that their statements were “contradictory” while at the same time it accepted as “reasonable” the claim that several news media had waged a campaign to discredit the mayor and “make him appear to be a drug trafficker.” Valdez was previously cleared in November 2007 of ordering the killing, but his acquittal was quashed by Peru’s supreme court, which ordered a retrial. Reporters Without Borders regards the latest acquittal as a grave development that could leave Rivera’s murder unpunished. It therefore supports the family’s call for it to be overturned. Valdez meanwhile continues to be held in Lima’s Castro Castro prison in connection with a charge of money-laundering. However, he could be released soon as other people facing the same charge have also been freed. The need for justice is urgent. Photo : Crónica Viva