US embassy cable - 05LIMA2132

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 002132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DRL FOR CNEWLING, KCUMBERLAND 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KPAO, PE 
SUBJECT: FUROR CONTINUES IN SALLY BOWEN CASE 
 
REF: LIMA 2074 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
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Summary: 
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1.  (U) British journalist Sally Bowen may have been 
convicted for defamation in a Peruvian court, but her cause 
continues to gain converts and momentum in the court of 
public opinion.  Bowen found herself bolstered from support 
by a variety of sources over the weekend, including: the 
British and U.S. Ambassadors, two GOP Ministers, the 
President of the Congress, the OAS Rapporteur for Press 
Freedom, the Head of the Peruvian Prison System (INPE), and 
press associations and fellow journalists.  Rather than 
muzzling Bowen, Judge Catacora,s decision, which the Judge 
himself could not coherently explain in a meeting with the 
press on 5/6, has fired up press freedom advocates, critics 
of the Justice System and those opposed to narcotrafficking. 
End Summary. 
 
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British/US Ambassadors Weigh In 
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2.  (U) Statements on Bowen's behalf by the British and U.S. 
Ambassadors on 5/5 received wide coverage.  Lima major daily 
"El Comercio" quoted Ambassador Struble, who questioned how 
Bowen could be sued for libel in the Zevallos case when 
Zevallos himself had figured in the famous "Kingpin List" of 
global narcotraffickers issued by the U.S. Government in 
2004.  Likewise, British Ambassador Richard Ralph expressed 
his "surprise and worry" over the implications of the Bowen 
decision.  The Rapporteur for Press Freedom at the OAS, 
Eduardo Bertoni, reportedly has written to both Foreign 
Minister Manuel Rodriguez and to Sally Bowen expressing his 
concern over this case. 
 
3.  (U) Foreign dignitaries were not the only officials to 
express shock at the decision, which was also rejected by 
Justice Minister Eduardo Salhuana, Labor Minister Juan 
Sheput, and Congress President Antero Flores-Araoz. 
Salhuana, in particular, said that the judge in the case "had 
committed an error" and expressed his hope that this would be 
corrected on appeal. 
 
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Journalists Take to the Street 
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4.  (U) Journalists organized two protests, the main one in 
front of the Justice Ministry, on 5/6.  The list of attendees 
read like a who,s who from Peruvian media, press and 
cultural worlds, including notable journalists/columnists 
Alejandro Miro Quesada Cisneros, Gustavo Gorritti, and Mirko 
Lauer as well as former Interior Minster Fernando 
Rospigliosi, and Peruvian artist and Fulbrighter Fernando de 
Szyszlo. 
 
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Bowen's Best Ally: Judge Catacora 
--------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) Judge Catacora has been Bowen,s most effective ally 
in the debate so far.  His attempts to justify his decision 
to the press on 5/6 backfired.  The judge was forced to 
concede that he had no "substantial evidence" against Bowen. 
Instead, he said, his decision represented his "personal 
opinion" in a highly unusual case and that it should not have 
implications for press freedom.  The judge confessed that he 
found against Bowen because she could not produce 
documentation of the prison visit where she said she had met 
an informant who had fingered Zevallos.  That same day, the 
Head of the Peruvian Prison system (INPE) announced that the 
log for the prison in question had been doctored, backing up 
Bowen,s account during the trial proceedings that a page was 
missing in the logbook when she returned to check the date of 
her interview.  INPE's investigation continues. 
 
6.  (U) The press, not surprisingly, has started to dig into 
Judge Catacora's record.  When the judge said that he had not 
had much time to render the decision in the Bowen case, "Peru 
21" revealed that he has held it for over a year.  Daily 
"Correo" reported that not only did Judge Catacora lack 
previous experience in penal cases when he was named as a 
criminal judge, but that in his original appointment to his 
present position, he had not received sufficient points on 
his exam to qualify. 
 
7.  (U) Meanwhile, the Office of Judicial Control (OCMA), 
which investigates allegations of misconduct by judges, has 
announced that it is opening an investigation into possible 
prejudicial conduct by Judge Catacora.  The judge was 
captured on videotape during an appearance some months ago 
discussing the Bowen case and highlighting what he considered 
weaknesses in the journalists' arguments while the matter was 
still being heard before him. 
 
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Comment: 
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8.  (SBU) The Bowen case has justifiably become a cause 
celebre for press freedom.  Any political mileage that 
narco-kingpin Fernando Zevallos may have hoped to get from 
Bowen's "conviction" for defamation has been swamped by the 
protests against this obviously unjustifiable decision.  Left 
unsaid in the criticism of Judge Catacora is the implicit 
recognition that he was paid off by Zevallos.  End Comment. 
STRUBLE