Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jul 2001
Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2001 The Christian Science Publishing Society
Contact:  http://www.csmonitor.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/83

LIBEL SUIT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY ONLINE

A Mexican bank sues a journalist who is reporting on the drug war for 
statements on the bank's chief.

Four years ago, veteran journalist Al Giordano moved for security 
reasons to an undisclosed location in Mexico to write firsthand on 
the drug war.

Last Friday, he found himself in a small, crowded courtroom in New 
York facing defamation charges filed by Banco Nacional de Mexico, 
also known as Banamex.

 From Mr. Giordano's perspective, this is a new front line in the 
fight against powerful drug traffickers. From the bank's perspective, 
it's a question of maintaining integrity.

Either way, Internet and legal scholars say it is a potentially 
precedent-setting case that raises fundamental questions about free 
speech in the globalized world of cyberspace, as well as the role of 
the independent journalists in a media world increasingly controlled 
by corporate giants.

"The case ... presents two issues that will play a key role in 
determining the viability of online, independent journalism," 
according to Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San 
Francisco, which filed an amicus brief on behalf of Giordano et al. 
"[One is] the ability of foreign plaintiffs to forum shop abusively, 
subjecting online, independent journalists to foreign laws ... and 
[two, is] the freedom of online journalists to republish articles on 
the Internet from publications in the offline realm without 
unreasonably being subjected to liability."

Giordano's alleged offenses occurred at a Columbia Law School forum, 
in two press interviews (one with The Village Voice), and on his 
website. What he did was repeat allegations that the head of Mexico's 
most powerful bank was involved with narco-trafficking and money 
laundering. His statements were based on stories about cocaine 
trafficking written by Mario Menendez, a Mexican journalist.

Banamex is also suing Mr. Menendez in New York. Three similar 
defamation cases brought by the bank against him in Mexico were 
dismissed.

"This is a harassment suit, this is a slap suit. They cannot win this 
suit," said Giordano outside the State Supreme Court building. "They 
only hope to drag it on and on to stop me and Mario Menendez from 
reporting on the truth of the corrupt drug war."

The bank's attorney says the cases in Mexico were dismissed on a 
technicality and that the substance of the allegations against 
Banamex's CEO Roberto Hernandez are untrue.

"Banamex is a largely privately owned bank that does millions of 
dollars of business in New York," Banamex's attorney Tom McLish told 
the judge last week. "Mr. Menendez [and Giordano] came to New York 
specifically to defame Banamex by claiming its chairman is a 
narco-trafficker and money launderer."

Mr. McLish, of the Washington law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and 
Feld, said the allegations make the Banamex chairman vulnerable to 
charges he violated the federal "drug kingpin law," and his assets in 
the US could be frozen and seized.

Menendez and Giordano, who researched the story independently, stand 
by their assertions about the Banamex chairman. Last Friday, they 
asked the court to dismiss all charges.

Giordano, an investigative journalist who used to work for The Boston 
Phoenix, moved to Mexico to expose what he believes is the complicity 
between some legitimate businesses and government officials and the 
drug traffickers. "You know the movie 'Traffic'?" he says. "I live 
that every day."

Giordano's website, Narconews.com, is also being sued, because it 
posted a translated version of one of Menendez's stories on the 
Banamex chairman. The lawyer who represents the site contends it is 
inappropriate for the Mexican bank to bring charges in New York.

"This site emanates from Mexico," says attorney Tom Lesser. "It has 
nothing to do with New York. Its focus is the drug war, the 
ramifications of the drug war, and politics in Latin America."

Banamex attorney McLish says New York is the appropriate venue, 
because statements were made here and Narconews.com is registered to 
a post-office box in New York. "It would make no sense to sue 
somewhere else for false statements they were made in New York to New 
York audiences," says McLish.

But Giordano, who is representing himself, says the statements made 
in New York were "protected opinions" based on specific facts. The 
website, in addition, is registered here only to protect his safety. 
He insists that Banamex is suing in New York only because it failed 
in its attempts to discredit the stories in Mexico.

"If the National Bank of Mexico can sue journalists in Mexico for 
telling the truth, there are 1.4 billion websites on this planet 
earth that can be dragged into New York, the most expensive court 
jurisdiction and the most backlogged in the world," he says. "That 
would have a chilling effect."
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