Chile

Buoyed by continued economic growth and increasingly stable democratic institutions, the Chilean press worked to remove laws established during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which impose criminal penalties on journalists convicted of dishonoring the congress, the military, or the flag. Journalists who reveal "state secrets" can also be charged under the State Security Law, and military courts retain the power to try journalists accused of defaming military personnel or of sedition, although the laws have not been enforced in recent years.

Chilean journalists have been lobbying congress to create a uniform legal standard for libel and to eliminate all criminal penalties. The proposed press law has been wending its way through the Congress for several years and is not expected to be voted on until sometime in 1998. Press groups are also working to have a shield law, which would protect journalists from being compelled to reveal their sources, incorporated into the new legislation.

Journalists are also lobbying to overturn a controversial law that allows judges to ban reporting on judicial investigations. In June, Judge Beatriz Pedrals issued an injunction barring journalists from reporting on the trial of Mario Silva Leiva, an alleged drug trafficker who was accused of bribing court officials and police officers. One newspaper, La Tercera, got around the ruling by posting dispatches on the World Wide Web. Judge Pedrals' ban was overturned after 10 days by the Court of Appeals.