Journalist Luciana Geuna said the recordings of her colleague inside the Casa Rosada, which prompted the government to file a legal complaint against her and shut down the government house’s press office, were not “clandestine.”

Last week, Geuna’s colleague, Ignacio Salerno, who was accredited in the government house, recorded some public corridors of the building using smart glasses.

“These are images that appear by the thousands on social media when kids go on visits, or even on Google Street View,” she said on Sunday during her programme on the TN TV station.

‘Illegal espionage’

The government decided last Thursday not to renew the press credentials of every media outlet assigned to Casa Rosada, accusing Geuna and Salerno of carrying out illegal espionage. The presidential press room was closed, and no reporters could enter the building after their fingerprint access permissions were removed from the security system.

The same day, Casa Militar, the state body tasked with protecting the president and other members of the government, filed a complaint against Geuna and Salerno over two charges of “disclosure of political or military secrets,” which carry prison sentences ranging from one month to six years.

“The journalists in question boasted of having circumvented presidential security, which exposed officials to unjustified risks and likely created the conditions for the disclosure of state secrets,” the complaint said.

It also requested the judiciary to collect the “entire archive” of the program in which the report under investigation was broadcast.

“It was a fairly innocuous report; there were no allegations, let alone any prohibited images. We had notified officials from the Press Office in advance,” Geuna said.

La Libertad Avanza (LLA) congresswoman Lilia Lemoine dismissed the existence of any authorization as a lie. In his X account, Milei shared posts from users who described the incident as “spying at the Casa Rosada,” including an AI-modified image of Geuna wearing a prison jumpsuit.

On Monday, the Argentine Forum of Journalism (FOPEA) filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) over the national government’s decision to suspend press credentials.

“Today, the Casa Rosada press room is closed. And this is extremely serious,” Geuna said.

“It is a political decision that challenges all of us who deeply believe in freedom of expression and democracy. I am confident that our accredited colleagues will soon be able to return to their workplace.”