Argentine journalist on trial for not revealing sources

Last Updated on Friday, 7 November 2014, 21:47 by GxMedia

Buenos Aires, Nov 7 (EFE).- An Argentine judge has put on trial journalist German Sasso, the editor of a media outlet in Bahia Blanca, for not revealing his sources in case of a media entrepreneur allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the country.

In several audio recordings released by Sasso’s outlet, La Brujula 24, media entreprenuer Juan Suris can be heard talking to policemen and other high ranking officials, according to Infobae news.

Judge Santiago Ulpiano Martinez prosecuted the journalist for concealing the sources of the recordings, in which another Argentine media entrepreneur, Leonardo Fariñas, also seems to be involved.

According to the judge, such evidence cannot be produced in a court ignoring its illegal origin. He also added that the judicial system employee who leaked the material to the press has not been identified.

Last Friday, Sasso refused to testify in the case to protect his source.

“The magistrate thinks that I committed a crime by hiding a source of information. It’s crazy and has no legal basis or common sense,” the journalist said in statements to Infobae.

“We only have things that were there in the court case. There are Suris’s recording in which he is talking about politics with corrupt policemen. Justice never used them to detain the police, but they came to kill the messenger,” Sasso said.

According to the judge, the recordings were only held by three entities: the Investigations Bureau for Illegal Drug Trafficking of Bahia Blanca, Judicial Observations of the Ministry of Intelligence and the Federal Court in Bahia Blanca.