Court Will Announce Journalist’s Fate Monday

REPRESENTATIVES of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights toldThe Tico Times yesterday they willannounce on Monday the verdict of thepress freedom case regarding La Naciónreporter Mauricio Herrera.If the court rules in Herrera’s favor, itwould oblige Costa Rican legislators toinitiate massive reforms to Costa Rica’scurrent press freedom laws.Herrera was convicted of libel inCosta Rican courts in 1999 for reportingthat a European magazine had linked formerCosta Rican diplomat FélixPrzedborski, on whom he had conducteda series of investigations, to Italian mafiaactivity.Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamberof the Supreme Court (Sala IV) rejectedan appeal Herrera submitted in 2001,but the legally binding Inter-AmericanCourt accepted his case last year (TT,April 2).