The Ancash regional higher court yesterday sentenced Yungay mayor Amaro Léon Léon to 17 years in prison for ordering the killing of Antonio de la Torre Echeandia, the presenter of a news programme on local Radio Orbita, who was stabbed to death on 14 February 2004 in Yungay (400 km north of Lima).

The two people who carried out the murder, Antonio Torre Camones and Pedro Angeles Figueroa, received the same sentence. All three were also ordered to pay 20,000 soles (5,000) euros each in damages. Léon was arrested on 31 March 2004 at the request of the Yungay prosecutor’s office, which said he had De la Torre killed to prevent him broadcasting a report about Léon.

In his programme “Con verdad y justicia” (With Truth and Justice), De la Torre criticised mismanagement by local officials and allowed listeners to make comments on the air. He had often received threats prior to his death and had already been the target of a murder attempt.

Arrest warrants have been issued for two other suspects in the murder, the mayor’s daughter, Enma Léon, and Moisés David Julca, who are both on the run. Lawyers for the three defendants convicted yesterday said they would appeal to the Lima supreme court, which will probably issue its ruling next month.

(Reporters sans frontières - Peru)