ROME
Crux
October 19, 2018
By Elise Harris
Paola Ugaz, an investigative journalist and co-author of the blockbuster book Half Monks, Half Soldiers, that details years of abuse inside the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), is the second journalist to be sued by Archbishop José Antonio Eguren Anselmi of Piura, a member of the group, on charges of defamation.
Ugaz received the complaint, filed before the Fifth Single-Judge Criminal Court and liquidator of the Superior Court of Justice of Piura, at her home in Lima, charging her with defamation and asking that she pay a fine of more than $60,000 dollars and spend three years in jail.
Nearly three months ago, on July 31, Pedro Salinas, a former SCV member and a co-author of the book, was served by the archbishop with similar charges and asked to pay the same fine and serve jail time. The complaint followed the publication by Salinas of a series of articles and interviews making various accusations against Eguren Anselmi, which he refused to retract when asked to do so by the archbishop.
In comments to Crux, the Archdiocese of Piura said they are handling the case against Ugaz in the same way as the case against Salinas, which is to “leave it in the hands of justice.”
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