The Bolivian interim government has imposed criminal penalties of up to ten years in prison for any misinformation about the coronavirus, a decision that sparked protests from journalists' associations on Monday. With this decree, "citizens who try on social networks to create confusion, to have a wrong approach to information, will have to be careful," said Minister of Presidency, Yerko Nunez, on Monday.
The decree establishes penalties, between one and ten years of imprisonment, against persons who "disseminate in written, printed, artistic and / or other form of information which endangers or affects public health, creating uncertainty among the population ” . The new provisions target "those who want to oppose and divide the Bolivians," said Yerko Nunez.
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The decree was issued this weekend by the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Añez. Ms. Añez, a right-wing senator, became interim president after the resignation and departure of Bolivian President Socialist Evo Morales in November 2019.
Bolivian press associations on Monday demanded the removal of the decree, which they said introduced "a severe and unconstitutional restriction by penalizing the fundamental right to freedom of expression" . The decree, which tightens up the provisions of a previous decree adopted in March, constitutes "a serious risk" for freedom of expression "because it penalizes information, not disinformation," said journalist and lawyer Andres Gomez. "This is a clear violation of freedom of expression," said Eva Copa, the president of the Senate, who is in opposition.
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Evo Morales' Movement to Socialism (MAS), who lives in exile in Argentina, has a large majority in each of the two chambers of the Bolivian Parliament.
The March decree had already been criticized by Amnesty International, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and by Human Rights Watch.