IPYS Instituto Prensa y Sociedad Venezuela
On July 25, 2013, the first court of the first instance in civil, mercantile and agricultural affairs of the second circuit of Bolívar state declared admissible the civil lawsuit filed against the Correo Caroní, under the company name Sociedad Mercantil EDITORIAL RODERICK, C.A, and its president David Natera. In this manner the request presented by Yamal Mustafá, a businessman and owner of local private newspaper Primicia, was enacted for alleged “damages and prejudices” against him. These events transpired after the Correo del Caroní informed on corruption charges during his mandate at Ferrominera del Orinoco, a state-owned company of the basic industries of Guayana, to the eastern part of the country.
The lawsuit filed by Mustafá on July 18 was based on the alleged “smear campaign initiated against him”, seemingly for broadcasting information on corruption cases at Ferrominera del Orinoco, in which Mustafá is allegedly linked as a businessman, which has no relationship whatsoever with his media activities.
The court stated the following: “the defendant, Sociedad Mercantil Editorial Roderick CA, is hereby summoned”. Likewise, David Natera was subpoenaed to appear at the court within the next 20 days. The admission of this lawsuit was as per article 344 of the Code of Civil Procedures.
In the appeal filed by Mustafá he requested that the defendant pay him 20 million bolivars (which at the official exchange rate represent $126,000,000). He also requested the preventive attachment of the defendant´s assets (https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.primicia.com.ve/public/2013-07-24/cluster_44/e2a2371499462734c5b9f2a8be9657051307252235102177.pdf&chrome=true).
If this case derives into a firm sentence ratifying the charges accusing the Correo del Caroní and its president, it could provoke the payment of a monetary fine, forcing this local newspaper to shut down, based on conversations between IPYS Venezuela and Oscar Murillo, the chief editor of the Correo del Caroní.
This court proceeding is added to the admission on July 23 of the criminal lawsuit -at another court- introduced by Mustafá against David Natera for the alleged crimes of slander and injury and the gag order prohibiting the newspaper from referring to the case faced by Yamal Mustafá for his presumed link to corruption charges at Ferrominera del Orinoco (/alerta?id=3544&y=2013&m=07).
The start of these two lawsuits against Natera and el Correo del Caroní occurred after the public prosecutor imputed Yamal Mustafá as a businessman on July 18 “allegedly for being an immediate collaborator in the crime of fraudulent embezzlement for his own gain, colluding with a public official and a contractor and associating with delinquents for the purposes of committing crimes”, in the case of alleged corruption at Ferrominera del Orinoco, a state-owned basic industry (http://bit.ly/16XB900).
Oscar Murillo informed IPYS Venezuela that the newspaper´s legal representatives shall go to the civil court and the criminal court to present allegations on the admissibility of the two lawsuits filed against the daily.
Label: legal action
