The kidnapping of journalist Pablo Alfano in January by two armed men was the sole physical attack in a year in which the Uruguayan press continued to report aggressively with few restrictions or reprisals.

Despite calls for reform, the legal environment for the press in Uruguay remains troubling, although few cases result in conviction. A 1989 statute provides up to two years imprisonment for journalists convicted of "knowingly divulging false news" or "insulting the nation, the State, or its powers." Four journalists with the Montevideo daily La República were convicted under that statute in 1996 and sentenced to two years in prison based on a critical article about Paraguayan President Juan Carlos Wasmosy. Federico Fasano, La República's editor in chief, and Carlos Fasano, the managing editor, were briefly jailed following the conviction. The case was dismissed in April, but prosecutors have appealed it to the Supreme Court.

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