Campeche Governor Layda Sansores is seeking to imprison the journalist, while he alleges judicial harassment and censorship.
González Valdez’s next hearing is scheduled for February 10.
One year after the Campeche governor, Layda Elena Sansores San Román, filed complaints with the Campeche State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) for alleged slander, defamation, hate speech, and incitement to hatred and violence by Jorge González Valdez, former director of Tribuna newspaper, the agency is seeking a two-year prison sentence and a fine to compensate the governor for the damages caused.
In an interview with MILENIO, Jorge González Valdez recounted that the public prosecutor, Jennie Clarivel Mendieta, asked Judge Guadalupe Martínez Taboada to impose a sentence on González Valdez and also on Isidro Yerbes Cruz, the representative of the company Organización Editorial del Sureste.
This came after the Public Prosecutor refused to consider the documents presented by the journalist and host, which demonstrated his retirement, termination of employment with the company, and included testimonial evidence that he no longer works for the platform where the publications that offended the governor were made.
“They’re imposing a sanction on me, a fine, and ordering me to pay damages of two million pesos. They already have a specific figure. Offending the governor costs you two million pesos, that’s what I want to understand,” he stated.
González Valdez explained the update on the legal case, stating that in a one-hour preliminary hearing, suspended until February 10 at 10:00 a.m., the judge warned that he must complete the proceedings for this stage by that date, in order to bring the case before a criminal court judge, despite the pending rulings on two appeals: one against formal charges and the other challenging the precautionary measures. Failure to appear at the conclusion of the preliminary hearing could result in his arrest.
“The judicial harassment continues, the attempts to harm journalists, even through physical force and by using government and police forces. We see this practically every day,” he noted.
—What has happened with the State Human Rights Commission?—
“It’s an appendage of the government. There are complaints, accusations, and observations, and absolutely nothing is done.”
—Is Jorge González afraid of going to jail?—
“At this age, I’m not even afraid of going to hell.”
He mentioned that the goal of the Morena party member Sansores San Román, through these complaints, is to eliminate the company and the Tribuna platform.
Restrictive Judicial Measures
In the case of the Campeche-based journalist, controversial rulings have been issued, some even considered unprecedented in the country, such as the appointment of intervenors who must authorize content before its publication.
Journalists Joel Ynurreta Priego and Abraham Martínez Caamal, as well as the regional media outlet Por Esto and/or Por Esto online (currently Compañía Editorial del Mayab), are facing a similar situation. Judge Amada Beatriz Salazar González, of the Second Civil and Asset Forfeiture Court of the First Instance of the First Judicial District of the State, sentenced them to pay two million pesos in damages for moral injury to the Secretary of Citizen Protection and Security, Marcela Muñoz. Martínez.
The defendants have ten business days to appeal the ruling, which requires them to pay 500,000 pesos each to cover the imposed amount.
Source: Milenio
