Alberto Rivera Fernández

New York, February 9, 2010—In a controversial ruling, a Peruvian tribunal acquitted on Monday two alleged masterminds in the 2004 murder of radio reporter Alberto Rivera Fernández, the local press reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Peruvian judicial authorities to review the ruling and ensure that all those responsible for killing Rivera, left, are brought to justice.

NOVEMBER 14, 2007
Posted December 28, 207

Alberto Rivera Fernández, Frecuencia Oriental
KILLED

The Superior Court of Ucayali sentenced two men for Rivera’s 2004 murder but acquitted two others accused of masterminding the killing, including a former mayor, the Peruvian press reported.

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PERU

Attacks and threats against the press, particularly in Peru's interior,
continued a disturbing upward trend that began in 2004. After lessening in frequency and severity after President Alberto Fujimori fled office in 2000, assaults on journalists were reported regularly in 2005. The Lima-based press freedom organization Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, considered the authoritative local source, documented 19 attacks in the first nine months of 2005 alone. CPJ's analysis found that most of these were carried out by peasant and worker groups, protesters, security guards, businessmen, and relatives of government officials whose actions were scrutinized by the press. The threat was fundamentally different from the government-sponsored attacks that marked the Fujimori era.

Peru

Attacks and threats against journalists increased considerably in 2004, reversing a decline that had followed Alejandro Toledo's accession to the presidency in 2001. And while Peruvian journalists generally work freely, several have been prosecuted on criminal defamation charges.

The embattled Toledo, a highly unpopular leader whose term ends in July 2006, has faced several political crises, and his Cabinet has been reshuffled several times. Several of his ministers have resigned over allegations of influence peddling, nepotism, and malfeasance. Alleged wrongdoing and ethical violations by Toledo's relatives and government officials have supplied the media with an endless stream of scandals.

New York, April 23, 2004—An unidentified gunman killed Alberto Rivera Fernández, a host of a radio show and a political activist, in Peru’s eastern Ucayali Department, on Wednesday, April 21. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating whether the murder was related to Rivera’s journalistic work.

Rivera, 54, hosted the morning show "Transparencia" (Transparency), broadcast daily on Frecuencia Oriental radio station, in the city of Pucallpa. In addition to being a journalist, he served as president of a local journalists’ association and owned a glass store.