The Miami-based Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) publically denounced a new fine yesterday that was retroactively imposed on local newspapers El Nacional and Tal Cual last Wednesday. The regional press group joined other human rights organizations in calling the ruling censorship on Tuesday. The fines, which stem from a 2010 photograph that showed corpses in a Caracas morgue on the front page of both publications to highlight the high crime rate, will amount to one percent of both newspapers’ gross revenues from 2009.
The fine was ordered by Judge Betilde Araque in the court for the protection of children for violating a Venezuelan law banning violent images in newspapers. Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, denounced the ruling “an act of censorship…which aims to economically strangle critics and independent media to silence the voices that do not conform to the official discourse.” Both newspapers have announced plans to appeal the decision.
The ruling comes after a string of controversial sales—such as TV station Globovision and media conglomerate Cadena Capriles—and the closure of Sexto Poder media group due to a lack of funding. Human rights and freedom of expression groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch have continually called on Venezuela to end its censorship of media critical of the government.