Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – It’s no secret why Mexico’s president has a high approval rating, since it’s illegal for media to ‘insult’ the President, the media needs to be careful with coverage and what might be considered insulting. And if the current President’s party has its way, the fines against free speech are about to quadruple.
The Government Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved an opinion that almost triples the fines for “insulting” the President of the Republic. What is considered an insult is left for interpretation.
The bill that reforms various provisions of the Law on Printing Crimes also multiplies seven times the pecuniary penalties for print media for insulting Office Secretaries, the Attorney General of the Republic, Governors, the Head of Government of Mexico City, and legislators.
The proposal, presented by Bennelly Jocabeth Hernández, a member of the current president’s party, was approved without discussion with 19 votes in favor of the majority bloc and one from Movimiento Ciudadano, nine against, and zero abstentions.
According to the bill, attacks on public order or public peace will be punished with a prison sentence of six months to one year and a fine of between five and 40 UMA, that is, between $481 and $3,848 pesos, taking into account that currently, the amount would be $96.22 pesos.
In the case of Office Secretaries, Governors, legislators, and head of the capital’s Government, the prison sentence will continue to be from three months to one year, while the fine rises from five to 40 UMAS.
This figure is seven times higher than that currently established, which is between $50 and $500 pesos.
In the case of the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and circuit, judges, generals, and colonels, the insults will be punished with a prison sentence of between one and six months and with fines ranging from $481 to $3,848. pesos. Currently, the fines for these cases are between $50 and $300 pesos.
“If the insult is verified in a session of Congress or in a court hearing, or is done to the generals or colonels in a military parade or while in charge of their forces, the penalty will be two months of arrest and two years imprisonment and a fine of five to 40 UMAS,” he adds.
For this case, the current fine is established between $200 and $2,000 pesos.
The proposal states that for anyone who insults a police officer, one of its agents, the authority, or any other public person, the fine will be between $481 and $962 pesos. The current law places it at between $25 and $200 pesos.
Finally, it states that insults to “friendly nations”, to their Presidents or accredited representatives in the Country, will be punished with a prison sentence of one to 11 months and a fine of between $481 and $3,848 pesos. Today these sanctions are between $50 and $500 pesos.
According to the explanatory statement, it is necessary to modify the Law on Printing Crimes, because it is anachronistic and insufficient.
The ruling warns that the fines it establishes range from $25 to $2,000 pesos and the prison sentences do not exceed two years, which has prevented them from functioning as an inhibitor in the commission of crimes against public order.
“We reiterate that the fines that are applied are too lax, so they do not allude to discouraging committing illegal acts, so it must be updated, otherwise there will be no coercion to apply sanctions and it is contrary to the sanctions of the Penal Code, for which must also be reformed”, indicates the opinion.
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is not part of democracy in Mexico.
Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) - It's no secret why Mexico's president has a high approval rating, since it's illegal for media to 'insult . . .
