Caracas, 21 Sep, (Tessa Marsman)- Surely there will be a lot of critics from abroad and we expect the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) to have a meeting soon, says Emil Guevara, deputy of the Latin American Parliament this Friday at the hand over of a request of investigation after the Venezuelan opposition news channel Globovision. ”But Venezuela has the sovereignty right over their own emission space”, he commented.
This Friday, Guevara, together with the Non Governmental Organisation Journalists for the Truth, asked the supervising media organisation National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel-Spanish acronym) to open an investigation into Globovision for provocation and transmission of violence and for transmitting this violence on peek hours. They handed over the articles in the National Constitution and in the Social Responsibility Law on Radio and Television that support their arguments.
“The channel broadcasted the humiliation of a person that could have lost his life in the act”, said Marco Hernández, President of the Journalists for the Truth.
Globovision showed last Monday how a small group of doctors of the Lídice Hospital in Caracas attacked security and administrative personnel that wanted to prevent an unauthorized entrance of the television crew. The protesting doctors had invited the crew with the pretext that they were special guests.
“The doctors felt secure and supported by the television cameras”, said Hernández. “They broadcasted the violence live and repeated it over and over again throughout the day”.
“We ask Conatel to investigate if the rights of citizens have been violated to promote propaganda to destabilize the society”, explains Guevara. “We don’t ask for the closure of the channel, we just want an investigation if the broadcast is in accordance with the law”, Hernández added.
The article 28, Paragraph Fourth, ordinal (W) of the Social Responsibility Law on Radio and Television states that “The spreading of messages that show violence as an easy solution or contributing to problems of human conflicts” will be sanctioned.
In two weeks the judgement of Conatel is expected.
you do not know what you are talking about! Get your facts straight! I have lived in that country for 27 years and never have I seen such poverty and violence as I have been seeing for the past 9 years since Chavez has been in power. It is a disgrace!!!