In a new institutional controversy, President Gustavo Petro asked the Council of State to revoke the ruling that imposed controls on his presidential speeches and gave the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) the power to authorize and supervise his interventions on television.

The request was presented by his lawyer, Pedro Alejandro Carranza, who warned that the decision turns the CRC into a “prior censor” incompatible, according to the defense, with the Constitution and international standards of freedom of expression.

According to the appeal, the ruling conditions the president’s communicative exercise to the prior authorization of an administrative body and exposes it “at the permanent risk of having your voice interrupted live by a technical entity.”

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For the president, this situation directly affects his institutional duty to communicate, explain and be accountable to the country, subjecting an essential function of the head of state to the endorsement of an authority not elected by popular vote.

The document insists that it is not proven that President Petro’s interventions have reduced the diversity of voices in the media, nor that the CRC has the authority to authorize or veto content of a political nature.

“It has not been proven that granting the CRC powers of prior veto and live interruption is an ideal mechanism to guarantee pluralism. On the contrary, the risk of the entity becoming an arbiter of political content is evident,” the defense points out.

The Council of State must review the appeal and decide whether to maintain or revoke the controls imposed on the presidential figure.

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