translated from Spanish: Conviction against BC journalist ‘is recoil against freedom’: Article 19

Article 19 convicted the 6-month prison sentence handed down against journalist Carmen Olsen for alleged offenses made to municipal policemen in 2013.
According to Article 19, on January 4, 2013, the journalist was physically assaulted by policemen Rafael Rodrigo García Robledo and Juan Alvarez Feliciano, who tried to prevent her from photographing the detention of a person they made on public roads.
Olsen, who was only doing her journalistic work, was arbitrarily detained by the municipal elements, who denounced her for the crime of “outrages to authority” ensuring that Carmen “offended them” during the apprehension.
This complaint initiated a case against the journalist who ruled on August 31 at the Joint Court of First Instance in Rosarito, Baja California, where she was sentenced to six months in prison for the crime of “outrages to authority”.
In a statement, Article 19 notes that although the journalist will not be deprived of her liberty, due to the legal benefits and the criminal rank of the crime in question, the sentence against her “constitutes a serious setback against freedom of expression in Mexico and the possibility of using the judicial apparatus to silence the work of journalists”.
The organization, which since 2013 legally represents and advises the journalist, says that it will appeal the sentence and will continue to work on the case so that Carmen Olsen “is acquitted and those who are true responsible for censoring her are effectively sanctioned”.
In 2019, Article 19 documented a total of 46 assaults against journalists through illegitimate use of public power. Among these, 9 have been for judicial harassment by civil proceedings and 7 by ministerial or judicial harassment through criminal proceedings.
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Original source in Spanish