Due to a controversial court decision, the continuity of Diario Popular is in danger

In its report of the mid-year meeting, the Inter-American Press Association (SIP)) warned of situations that threaten the continuity of the media in the region.

At the meeting held this weekend in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, the entity whose mission is to promote and defend the freedom of the press in America raised the case of Impreba, the editor of Popular newspaper. The firm's operations are threatened by a controversial decision in a private lawyer's lawsuit for the collection of fees.

In 2011, the lawyer José Carlos Arcagni sued Impreba and its shareholders, Jorge Eduardo Fascetto and Isabel Stunz of Fascetto.. The lawyer demanded the payment of extrajudicial professional fees for his participation in a stock exchange agreement held in October 2009. At that time, Fascetto and his wife, shareholders of several commercial companies holding different media, abandoned their functions. participation in these companies and in return, they remained with 100 percent of the shareholding of the publisher of Popular newspaper.

In the trial, Arcagni estimated the amount of his claim at 500,000 pesos, which, according to the quotation from that date, equates to $ 116,000..

In the judgment at trial, the judge relied on the costs claimed for the Impreba value that he had 57 million and a half dollars, well above the real who has the signature.

In addition, the exchange of shares did not result in an improvement in the defendants' participation in that it was only a redistribution of shares in which one party constituting the group of companies remained with one company and the other member with other companies. . Thus, the magistrate of first instance, ignoring the payment on the account which had already received the lawyer who introduced the application and that the legislation in force foresees that the professional fees must be regulated in pesos, He condemned the owners of Popular newspaper pay $ 1,800,000 to Arcagni. But not that: He ordered that, to calculate interest and discount the amount, it is appropriate to apply the active rate of Banco de la Nación.

Room J of the Civil Division has confirmed the decision on the amount of the sentence, that is 1 800 000 USD, while legally it should be done in pesos. The only thing that was changed was the interest rate to apply, establishing the pbadive rate of Banco Nación. It should be noted that these update rates are used for amounts expressed in pesos and not in dollars. Needless to say, the US currency has a stability that does not benefit from the national currency.

Although the legislation allows only the regulation in pesos, the claimant proceeded in a timely manner to settlement in dollars and applying the rate used to update his debts in pesos. In this way, it has reached nearly $ 6 million. In addition, he requested that liens be entered on the bank accounts of the publisher of Popular newspaper.

Impreba lawyers have asked the new judge who understands in the file that the precautionary measure. In their brief, they explained that such a measure would mean the immediate paralysis of society and its possible bankruptcy ", with the institutional seriousness that means the disappearance of a media which, in addition to fulfilling an obvious social and republican function, constitutes a source of direct income for more than 260 families the income depends on the newspaper. "

The magistrate gave way to the request not to make the seizures, ordered that the debt be converted to the filing date of the application and discount the amount by applying the rate of liability indicated by the BCRA and taking into account the payment on the account that the plaintiff's solicitor received.

Arcagni appealed this decision to the House, which must now decide whether or not to validate its claim for the dollar debt, plus interest at the rate paid by the banks for the loans in pesos, and to seize the accounts with which the publishing company Popular newspaper pays the suppliers and their employees. From Impreba they warned that If the court is held at the request of Arcagni, he would be sentenced to the bankruptcy of the publisher with consequent loss of jobs. In addition, the closure of the recognized journalistic media would imply a serious violation of the freedom of the press, guaranteed by the national Constitution.