Lawyers, human rights watchdogs, and lawmakers condemned an Argentine court’s order to block journalists from publishing audio recordings attributed to Presidency Secretary Karina Milei. Karina, who is also president Javier Milei’s sister, is being accused of heading a corruption ring in the government’s disability agency.

“This precedent could represent a direct attack by the government and the judiciary on freedom of expression and society’s right to information, which are fundamental pillars of the rule of law,” the Argentine branch of NGO Amnesty International posted on X.

On Friday, Argentine media outlet Carnaval leaked two audio recordings attributed to Karina Milei. Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni called them an “unprecedented scandal,” hinting that they were recorded inside the Casa Rosada.

Earlier this week, the Security Ministry requested the judiciary to halt the publication and search Carnaval’s offices, as well as the homes of journalists who had released the audios. Shortly after the complaint was filed, Judge Alejandro Maraniello ordered to block the publication in both traditional and social media. However, he did not respond to the ministry’s requests to raid the homes and offices of the journalists who published them.

The next day, a Uruguayan streaming channel published a new recording attributed to Karina Milei. 

“The audio released today was recorded in the [offices of] lower house presidency, another branch of the democratic state that has been breached,” Bullrich posted on X.

The reactions

In a Monday statement, the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) rejected the judge’s order, calling it “an act of prior censorship” and warning of the “institutional gravity” posed by the searches requested by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

Three associations representing Buenos Aires City’s lawyers also rejected the ruling, describing it as “a clear case of prior censorship, which has been abolished by the Constitution.” 

“Journalism plays an essential role in this process, which requires full enforcement of professional secrecy and the confidentiality of information sources,” they added.

Members of Congress also rejected the court ban. On Tuesday, the lower house’s commission on freedom of expression met to discuss the ruling and express their concern. They invited Mauro Federico and Jorge Rial, two of the journalists the government accuses of spreading the recordings. Senators from several opposition blocs also gave a press conference to condemn the situation, describing it as “an attack on press freedom.”

“They are so afraid of the contents of the audios that they engage in censorship and violate the principle of freedom of expression,” Peronist deputy Victoria Tolosa Paz wrote on X.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutor Carlos Stornelli requested for an investigation to be opened regarding the alleged illegal intelligence operation the government denounced. The investigation, however, should not “snoop into a journalist’s sources,” Stornelli wrote in his request in response to government demands. He added that offices and property should also not be raided, “except if there is a court order.”

Critics also took issue with Bullrich for saying that the recording and release of the conversations violated the national intelligence law. Constitutional lawyer Andrés Gil Dominguez said that that norm punishes intelligence agents and public officials who “obtain information illegally” or fail to destroy it “when ordered to do so by a judge.”

He added that the law “does not punish journalists who spread that information.”

Regarding international law, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in the Granier case (2015) and in Advisory Opinion 22/2016, has stated that freedom of expression is also violated when state actions affect legal entities that allow individuals to engage in journalistic activities (especially critical journalism).

Argentina’s judiciary has forbidden the publication of leaked audio recordings of Karina Milei, meaning they cannot currently legally be reported in the country. The Buenos Aires Herald rejects this prior censorship of material that is in the public interest as an attack on press freedom.