The Public Bar Association condemned Milei's new wave of insults against journalists

The Public Bar Association of the Federal Capital expressed its concern over the new wave of insults and disparagements made by President Javier Milei against journalists and media outlets. In a statement published this Friday, the organization, which brings together more than 100,000 registered lawyers, noted that "freedom of expression is not a privilege of journalists, but a guarantee for all citizens, who without free and plural information cannot form their own judgment or control those who govern them." It defended the role of the press and highlighted that the profession "performs an irreplaceable function in republican life, especially when it causes discomfort." The text refers to "the repetition of offensive expressions" by Milei on social media. This week, the President directed insults and disparagements at journalists Maru Duffard and Jesica Bossi. In recent hours, he called Fernán Saguier, director of LA NACION, the "head of the band of pen assassins," in response to an editorial about privileged pensions. "A full democracy needs a robust, vigorous, even rough public debate, but the indiscriminate use of insults and offenses not only does not enrich the debate but impoverishes it, weakens it, and ultimately nullifies it," adds the statement from the Bar Association, chaired by Dr. Alejandra García. Closing its message, the organization expressed its solidarity with those aggrieved and declared its support for freedom of expression "as an essential tool of a democratic society." The attack on LA NACIONMilei was particularly active in his disparagements of journalism this week. On Thursday night, a message on his official X account criticized an editorial published by LA NACION and insulted its leadership and journalists. The attack was directed against the director of LA NACION, Fernán Saguier, over the editorial published on September 28 titled "Privileges the Republic Does Not Need." The editorial reflects on the so-called "privileged pensions" received by Argentine presidents after their time at the Casa Rosada as heads of the Executive Branch. It questions the republican legitimacy of accessing this benefit, which entails a monthly expense of millions for the State's coffers for having held the Presidency of the Nation. Under law 24.018, these benefits are called "lifetime monthly allowances." Milei's message with criticisms of LA NACIONIn his post, Milei focused on his decision to have renounced his privileged pension and wrote: "Fernán Saguier, head of the band of pen assassins, omits that in my case I have renounced the privileged pension. At the same time, he does not take the trouble to question some of his friends to whom he assigns pens that spread his lies." However, the editorial published by this outlet does not refer to the case of any specific president. Instead, it asks: "What justification remains today for the State to guarantee a lifetime extraordinary income to a person for the sole fact of having held the nation's highest office for a few years?" With the intention of answering this question, it reflects: "It can be understood that a community may wish to honor those who have rendered eminent services. But public recognition does not necessarily require creating a lifetime income, adjustable and disconnected from contributions made to the pension system. Even less does it seem reasonable that this benefit could, under certain conditions, extend to the beneficiaries of the deceased official." The editorial published by LA NACION and signed by Fernán Saguier, editorial director of this outletWhile it highlights that "the exercise of the Presidency constitutes the highest honor that citizenship can confer," it also notes that the privileged pension contains "a remnant difficult to reconcile with the republican idea of equality before the law." Even more so when compared with the "millions of retirees whose benefits depend on decades of contributions and who know all too well the financial difficulties of the pension system." In the preceding days, he targeted journalist María Eugenia Duffard, host of Infobae TV, for an interview she conducted with Máximo Kirchner. He called her "trash," "corrupt," "filthy leftist," and "thief." Day after day, he continued posting messages against her. He also attacked Jesica Bossi for comments she made on TN in her coverage of the IDEA Colloquium. He called her a "tremendous ignoramus" and labeled her a "Zaffaronista defender of thieves and murderers." Javier MileiJournalism