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Following the accusations of sexual harassment against him, Pedro Brieger will no longer be part of radio brand—which is broadcast on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Radio La Red AM 910—. “I made the decision“, confirmed Eduardo Aliverti, main host of the program to LA NACIÓN.
Brieger has been a member of the staff of the radio program headed by Aliverti for more than 15 years. The host, accompanied by the radio station, decided to remove the journalist and announced that this weekend he will speak on air about the facts of public knowledge.From this coming Saturday he will no longer be part of the program“, Lolo Bernandez, news and programming manager of Radio La Red confirmed to LA NACIÓN.
On June 23, journalist Alejandro Alfie shared on his social networks the testimony of five women who point out that Briegerinternational affairs specialist for the news channel C5N, Radio10 and La Red, he would have sexually harassed them in different ways.
Brieger has extensive experience in the media. He was part of the journalistic staff of Public TV between 2004 and 2016. He is currently responsible for a column on international affairs in Don’t despairthe cycle hosted by Fernando Borroni on Radio10, and in Minute one, by Gustavo “El Gato” Sylvestre on C5N, where he has worked since 2016.
Both media outlets, run by the Indalo Group, would have decided to put its participation on hold. But they have not issued any official statement yet. In addition, Brieger directs Nodal, a news portal from Latin America and the Caribbean, and works as a university professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the UBA. In addition, the journalist is known for his active participation in human rights causes and participates in different international press organizations.
The events would have occurred between 1994 and 2019. The alleged victims are three journalists, a Brieger student and a secretary from the University of Belgrano. So far, none of them have filed a complaint with the Court. Their testimonies, however, triggered others, and there are now at least 10 women who are jointly analyzing a judicial strategy and a collective and public presentation of the case.
One of the accusations was made by journalist Cecilia Guardati, who in 2008 worked for the Télam agency. That year, she had to cover a tour of Tunisia by then-president Cristina Kirchner, where, according to her account, she was harassed by Brieger. Her testimony, for LA NACION.
—What happened to Pedro Brieger?
—First I arrived in Algeria with one of my bosses from Télam to cover Cristina Kirchner’s political mission. There I met Brieger, who was part of the delegation. We had tea and cookies in the hotel hall and chatted about professional topics. The next day, Brieger He texted me to tell me he couldn’t attend the meeting. With the president, she asked me to share the audio with her and gave me her room number. I went up, with the computer in my hand, to leave the audio with her as a favor from a colleague. When I got to her room, I saw that she had the door ajar. I find Brieger naked, lying on the back of the bed, talking to me and covering himself with a sheet, masturbating while talking to me. I don’t remember how long I stayed there or what he said to me. I left and never spoke to him again.
—Did you see him again?
—The next day I neither greeted him nor spoke to him again. I avoided it. At that moment I didn’t say anything to my boss, it wasn’t a comfortable context to talk about something like that.. 99% of the delegation were men. I continued working as a defense mechanism. Block it. I denied it. Time passed and he appeared everywhere. I saw that he was winning awards and that he had more and more visibility and more power. I was afraid to show my face and expose myself.
—How did you finally decide to give your testimony?
—During Macri’s presidency I worked in Télam e They invited Brieger to a round table. At that time there was already a gender commission in Télam and I told my International colleagues what I had experienced with him. I told them not to invite him because he was a stalker. Every time I heard him talking about gender issues, his double talk seemed very strong to me. My blood was boiling. But I didn’t feel ready to make it public and asked for confidentiality.
—And now was the time when you decided to bring it to light…
—I live in Spain, but last year, while I was visiting Argentina, I ran into him in a cafe in Palermo, by chance. I saw him talking to two other foreign men. I was about to face it, but I couldn’t. I thought: ‘He did it to me because he did it before and he’s going to do it again.’ When I saw that Alfie was behind it, I spoke to him. And with other girls who went through the same thing. When we started talking we realized that we were not only journalists, but also girls from the university, his students from the UBA and even a neighbor. It was an open secret. There is a systematic pattern of behavior in him.
Marcela Perelman, is research director of the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and adjunct professor of the Sociology program at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and In dialogue with LA NACIÓN he detailed the harassment he suffered From Brieger: “The events I experienced are similar to those already known, it was in 2001. He had been my teacher and, as other women say, I respected him. and had given me valuable job opportunities. We met for a job proposal and It became an exhibitionist and invasive situation,” he revealed.
“A few days later I confronted him in an email detailing that it was unacceptable and abusive what had happened and that he should never speak to me again”Perelman noted. “What seems most important to me now is that we rethink our decisions and the environments that made it possible for their work and prestige not to be affected by serious, repeated and sustained conduct for decades,” the director reflected.
The Faculty of Social Sciences of the UBA – of which Brieger is a professor of the subject Sociology of the Middle East – issued a statement through its networks, in which it expressed support for the affected people, although it avoided mentioning them by name and surname. “The situation of the teacher involved is being evaluated, who, according to academic planning, will not teach classes in the next semester at the Faculty,” said the UBA statement.
Agustina Kämpfer, who is also cited in Alfie’s investigation as a victim of Brieger, had already accused the journalist in 2010. On air, in the program A perfect world: “I did it spontaneously. He had won a Martín Fierro and, when we returned to the flat, I felt the instinct to warn: ‘Hey everyone, this guy can’t be awarded, he harasses students!’” said the journalist in conversation with LA NACIÓN.
Kämpfer says he suffered harassment situations by the journalist during his time as a student at TEA (Agency School Workshop), at the Buenos Aires headquarters of Lavalle and Junín.
“Many women who had experienced something similar, who had never spoken about it for fear of segregation, were watching and knew that they were not the only ones who had experienced horrible situations with him. Despite all the years that have passed, I have never stopped feeling anguish when I remember those traumatic and repugnant episodes that I suffered in his classes,” she insists.
THE NATION He tried to communicate with Pedro Brieger, but at the time of going to press he did not receive a response from the journalist.
With the collaboration of Agustina Surballe Muller
