H.E. Eduardo Alberto Duhalde
President of the Republic
General Secretariat to the Presidency
Balcarce 50
1064 Buenos Aires
Argentina

Vienna, 3 October 2002

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, strongly condemns the decision of a federal judge to subpoena the telephone records of Thomas Catán, the Buenos Aires correspondent for the British newspaper, the Financial Times.

In two stories published by the Financial Times in August, Catán reported that Argentine congressmen had solicited bribes from foreign bankers operating in Argentina as a condition for halting legislation which, among other things, would reinstate a two per cent tax on banks to help finance a health scheme for bank employees. The tax has been strongly opposed by foreign banks, which could reportedly lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

A federal investigation into the bribery allegations was launched in early September and Catán was called to testify by Federal Judge Claudio Bonadío. In his testimony on 17 September, the journalist said that his story was supported by four sources who he refused to identify. Judge Bonadío then asked the journalist to give his telephone number, indicating that his telephone records would likely be subpoenaed.

According to information before IPI, Judge Bonadío secretly ordered the seizure of Catán’s telephone records the same day the journalist testified. On 30 September, on the orders of Judge Bonadío, police also raided the headquarters of several foreign banks, seizing documents and appointment calendars of top executives, as part of the ongoing investigations.

We understand that Catán and the Financial Times sought an injunction to prevent the move to seize the journalist’s telephone records, and that Judge Bonadío received a public reprimand from a higher appeals court for his disregard of Article 43 of the Argentine Constitution, which guarantees the journalist’s right to protect sources. The prosecutor in the case, Guillermo Marijuán, intends to ask Judge Bonadío to return the records, along with a pledge not to use them as evidence.

IPI regards Judge Bonadío’s decision to seize Catán’s telephone records as a violation of the journalist’s constitutional right to protect his sources. The right to maintain the confidentiality of sources and other information communicated in confidence to journalists is one of the fundamental elements of the journalist’s profession. Without this guarantee of confidentiality, sources will no longer feel able to disclose matters of public interest and the media will not be able to effectively carry out its “watchdog” role, exposing corruption and misuses of power.

Therefore, IPI urges Judge Bonadío to reverse his decision and to ensure that the journalist’s right to protect confidential sources is respected in Argentina.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director