Journalist harassed by government official

Expression

Radio CW 41 journalist Jorge Gutiérrez Pérez, claimed that Councillor Danilo Vasallo harassed him. In a letter to the radio station managers, the Councillor requested the recordings of Gutierrez's programs on two different occasions. In addition, Vasallo  questioned the information the journalist presents in his program and even suggested the dismissal of the journalist.

The Asociación de la Prensa Uruguay (Uruguayan Press Association) condemned the actions of the Councillor as an "abuse of power" and a "violation of freedom of expression". 

In a separate incident, on 10th July 2018, the National Assembly passed a draft law that seeks to establish clear and transparent criteria for the allocation of official advertising in order to avoid government discretion. The original text of the law was submitted by civil society organisation Centro de Archivos y Acceso a la Información Pública, (Archives and Access to Public Information Centre, CAinfo) in 2015. The draft law is now under consideration in the Senate. 

In the context of the co-creation process of the 4th National Action Plan of Open Government 2018-2020, civil society organisations raised the need to reform the law on access to public information, which was approved ten years ago. Among other aspects, organisations expressed the importance of having more clarity regarding the law exceptions regime.