VENEZUELAN Supreme Court Denies Restraining Order Against RCTV and Globovision

[magbana]

"Venezuelan Supreme Court Denies Restraining Order Against RCTV and Globovision

May 8th 2009, by James Suggett – Venezuelanalysis.com

The Venezuelan Supreme Court (ABN).

Mérida, May 7th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - This week, Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) denied a restraining order on two of the country's largest private television stations, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) and Globovision. Also, the National Assembly urged the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to discipline Globovision Director Alberto Ravell for attempting to incite panic in the population during an earthquake near Caracas on Monday.

The Latin American Foundation for the Development of Equity (Fundaequidad) had requested the restraining order last November on the grounds that RCTV and Globovision had incited violence and encouraged a coup d'etat against the government, and that this was a threat to Fundaequidad's rights under Article 58 of the Constitution.

Article 58 says, "Communications are free and plural... Everyone has the right to timely, truthful, and impartial information, without censorship... as well as the right to reply and corrections when they are directly affected by inaccurate or offensive information."

To support its case, Fundaequidad had accused RCTV and Globovisión of false reporting, in violation of Article 58, when the news stations alleged that the government of Venezuela had links to the Colombian guerrilla group Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) last year.

The TSJ denied Fundaequidad's petition on the grounds that restraining orders are issued when the threat is "immediate and executable" and that "the eventual violation of rights that has been alleged should be a direct and immediate consequence of the act."

Fundaequidad "did not show how its personal or collective legal situation would be affected by the denounced acts," and "did not produce any indisputable evidence that conveys the imminence of the threat to violate rights of which they accuse the television stations," the TSJ decision stated.

With regard to the accusation that RCTV and Globovisión had lied about the government's links to the FARC, the TSJ decided it was an act which had already taken place. Instead of being a justification for a restraining order, it should be investigated as an infraction of the Telecommunications Law or Penal Code, according to the TSJ.

National Assembly Urges Sanctions Against Globovision

On Wednesday, the National Assembly (AN) demanded that Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) penalize Globovision for infractions of the Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television.

AN President Cilia Flores said Globovisión Director Alberto Ravell used the news of a moderate earthquake on Monday to "take advantage of nervousness and generate terror in the population."

After the earthquake that registered 5.4 on Richter Scale occurred on Monday morning, Ravell reported unofficial information before authorities had made informed declarations about the situation, and accused the government of being irresponsible for not responding to the situation fast enough.

Flores berated Ravell for making "irresponsible" political attacks against the government "in a moment in which the population was going through a difficult moment like an earthquake." The National Assembly voted to approve Flores's request that the CONATEL investigate the incident.

Last October, the Venezuelan government launched an investigation of a guest on a Globovision talk show, Rafael Poleo, who had made televised declarations which many officials considered a call to assassinate President Hugo Chávez.

In April, Chávez called for legal investigations of RCTV and Globovision, accusing them of having promoted the two-day April 2002 coup d'etat, during which they covered up and distorted events for two days in a way that aided the coup leaders. "
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4430

[EFerrari]

1. Doesn't the Supreme Court know it is STACKED?

What is going on here? :)

[Judi Lynn]

2. What a shame they've been allowed freedoms like calling for assassination of the President,

making unforgiveable claims like tying their President to FARCs, etc. 24/7. If they had tried any of that against _{George W. Bush} they would have found themselves on those funny planes headed for Syria.

It's good to see official bodies looking seriously at these murderous clowns.

I've read Alberto Ravell has past ties to our CIA, by the way.

Did you ever see this filthy stunt they pulled?

http://www.indymedia.be.nyud.net:8090/nl/files/imagecache/node-page/chvezcnn_portada.jpg

Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez was left with the killing statement below. Today they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and "regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.

More:
http://www.indymedia.be/node/25039