Argentina top judge defends media law ruling

The head of Argentina's Supreme Court on Wednesday denied that the government influenced a ruling upholding a controversial law that will force the break-up of the country's largest media group.

"The court has not made a pact with anyone, it's the same as always," Ricardo Lorenzetti told a local radio station, in response to accusations from opposition politicians and media.

After years of wrangling, on Tuesday six of seven justices ruled that the 2009 law was constitutional, upholding an antitrust clause that will force Clarin to sell most of its lucrative cable television operations.

The top judge said that "what we did was validate the activity of Congress, which can also regulate public media and official advertising."

"It was concretely demonstrated that (the law) creates no impairment for free expression," he said.

"Last year, they said I was a friend of (Clarin CEO Hector) Magnetto and now it is the other way around," Lorenzetti joked of his treatment in the press.

Clarin, which also publishes Argentina's largest circulation newspaper, has said its attorneys are reviewing the court's decision and has not ruled out filing an appeal.

The ruling hits media outlets "that exercise critical journalism" including those that challenge the government, Clarin said in its statement Tuesday, calling the decision "an affront to freedom of expression."

Opposition lawmaker Elisa Carrio went further, denouncing what she called a "long-standing" and "spurious pact" between the government and the court's top judge.

She claimed the judge had promised the court would uphold the law in return for the court being allowed to manage its own finances.

Opposition newspaper La Nacion made a similar accusation, alleging the court's ruling was negotiated "more than three months ago by the president, herself, who is now on medical leave."

President Cristina Kirchner is convalescing after brain surgery earlier this month.

The ruling came two days after mid-term legislative elections saw Kirchner's followers defeated in key provinces, but left her with a slender majority in Congress.

Since she took office in 2007, Kirchner has clashed frequently with Clarin, one of her administration's most dogged critics.

Her government had said the goal of the 2009 law was to break up media monopolies, while Clarin argued it was an attack on the opposition press and private property that threatens freedom of expression.

The top court sided with the government, writing in its decision "it is legitimate, a law that creates general limits a priori, because this manner favors freedom of expression by preventing market concentration."