NAVARRO AGAINST THE ROPES: The case against the owner of El Destape advances for threatening anti-K journalists

Justice once again put the ultra-Kirchner journalist Roberto Navarro under the spotlight after the judicial case against him advanced for alleged incitement to violence after a series of explosive statements directed against renowned journalists critical of Kirchnerism. The file, which had initially been archived, was reopened by the Federal Criminal Cassation Chamber and continues its course after several judicial setbacks suffered by the driver of El Destape

.

The investigation revolves around statements made by Navarro in August 2022 during his radio program, where he targeted figures such as Jonatan Viale, Luis Majul, Eduardo Feinmann, Alfredo Leuco and Jorge Lanata, among others, in a speech that generated strong repudiation in the journalistic and political spheres.

The sayings that gave rise to the judicial scandal

According to the complaint originally filed by Eduardo Feinmann and accompanied by other actors, Navarro expressed on the air phrases such as “something must be done with them”, referring to opposition journalists, and that “they should be afraid”. In addition, he issued an even more serious warning, arguing that “these events are going to end badly” and that “they are going to end in gunfire”.

The expressions were interpreted by the complainants as a threat incompatible with freedom of expression and as a possible incitement to violence against press workers for ideological reasons.

The case was reopened by Cassation

.

In the first instance, Judge María Eugenia Capuchetti had dismissed the complaint, considering that there was no crime and that Navarro's expressions were protected by freedom of expression. That decision had also been backed by the Federal Chamber

.

However, in June 2024, the Federal Criminal Cassation Chamber annulled those resolutions and ordered the investigation to be reopened, considering that the arguments used to close the case were “insufficient” and that there were elements that prevented the possible commission of a crime from being ruled out outright.

Judges Daniel Petrone, Diego Barroetaveña and Carlos Mahiques argued that the content of the demonstrations and the context in which they were carried out merited a deeper investigation.

Another setback for Navarro in the Supreme Court

Later, Navarro tried to remove Judge Carlos Mahiques from the case by means of a challenge, but the Supreme Court rejected that request and dismissed his presentation, in a new judicial setback for the

Kirchner journalist.

With that decision, the case continued its normal course and the investigation remains open.

A case that institutionally complicates driver K The continuity of the

case represents one of the most sensitive judicial fronts currently facing Roberto Navarro, who was once again at the center of the controversy due to the tenor of

his public statements.

As the case progresses in court, the case reopens the debate over the limits of freedom of expression and the responsibility of media figures when they use spaces of mass reach to issue potentially intimidating messages against colleagues.