The judge who sentenced four journalists in Formosa is a Peronist militant of Gildo Insfrán

The conviction against four journalists from the media outlet La Nación+ in Formosa generated strong criticisms regarding the imposed sanction and also put under scrutiny the political trajectory close to Governor Gildo Insfran of the Justice of the Peace in Las Lomitas, Omar Padilla.

Before joining the provincial Judiciary, the magistrate was a councilor, a leader of Peronism, and publicly expressed his support for the project led by the dictator Insfrán.

Padilla sentenced Lautaro Guillamondegui, Micaela Urdinez, Joaquín Rajadel, and Javier Corbalán to five days of arrest for conducting interviews and filming in the indigenous community of San José. The sentence can be replaced by a fine of $282,550 for each journalist.

According to the Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (ADEPA), the Justice of the Peace of Minor Amounts in Las Lomitas considered that the members of the journalistic team violated Article 73 of the provincial Code of Offenses by "carrying out an activity without prior authorization" and for not having a badge to "practice journalism".

ADEPA questioned this criterion and stated that in Argentina, no license, registration, or state authorization is needed to practice journalism. The organization also pointed out that, according to the ruling itself, the team had initially received authorization to enter and conduct interviews and left the location when requested.

Peronist activist, councilor, and judge

Padilla's political trajectory is also recorded in the records of the Formosa Judiciary itself. In 2014, when he was part of the list of substitute judges for the Third Judicial Circumscription, he was also serving as a Peronist councilor for the Municipality of Las Lomitas.

At that time, the Superior Court of Justice of Formosa analyzed his situation and decided to exclude him from the list of substitute judges, considering that the position of councilor constituted a conflict of interest as it was a public function.

However, his connection with Peronism continued after that period. In November 2024, Padilla was publicly presented as a leader of Unidad Justicialista de Las Lomitas. During an event held in that locality, he highlighted the “support and management of Governor Gildo Insfrán”.

Months earlier, he had also directly expressed his support for the authoritarian provincial leader: “We have someone who shows us the way, and it is our Governor”.

In July 2024, Padilla was identified as a “Peronist leader” during an event related to indigenous communities in Las Lomitas. In that context, he criticized the mayor Atilio Basualdo and stated that “the communities are aligned with this Government project that our Governor represents”.

Additionally, he claimed that “the Peronist activism is dissatisfied” with Basualdo and questioned his approach to "libertarian ideas".

His political stance was expressed again when he stated: “We have someone who shows us the path to take and who has done it well for many years, and it is our Governor”.

These statements were made less than nine months before the Superior Court of Justice appointed Padilla as Justice of the Peace.

Now, from the judiciary, the same leader who had been a councilor and had publicly expressed his support for Insfrán found himself at the center of a controversy over a ruling that imposed five days of arrest on four journalists who had traveled to western Formosa to conduct interviews.