Dominican Republic / Americas

  

In five Latin American countries, COVID-19 responses restrict press freedom, CPJ, TrustLaw find

In Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, and Peru, emergency measures in response to COVID-19 restricted the media’s capacity to report freely and the public’s ability to access information, including critical information about public health interventions and the pandemic itself, a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw program found. The report,…

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Dominican journalist Marino Zapete is facing criminal defamation charges for his reporting on alleged corruption. (Image via Marino Zapete)

Dominican journalist Marino Zapete to face criminal defamation trial for corruption report

Miami, January 23, 2020 — Authorities in the Dominican Republic should immediately drop all criminal charges against Marino Zapete and stop pursuing criminal defamation cases against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A woman walks in Santo Domingo in 2008. A Dominican court has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison over the murder of a journalist. (AFP/Eitan Abramovich)

Dominican Republic convicts man over 2011 murder of journalist

New York, April 11, 2018–A Dominican Republic court yesterday sentenced Matías Avelino Castro to 20 years in prison for his role in the 2011 murder of journalist José Agustín Silvestre, according to reports. The court convicted Avelino Castro, whom police had identified as the alleged mastermind of the killing, of being an accomplice to murder,…

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Dominican flags in Santo Domingo in 2012. A Noticias SIN reporter says threats were made against her after she reported on the murder of a fellow journalist. (AFP/Erika Santelices)

Dominican journalist threatened over reports on murder of fellow journalist

New York, April 4, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate threats made against Alicia Ortega, an investigative reporter with the national news channel Noticias SIN, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the journalist’s safety.

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Two radio journalists shot and killed during live broadcast in the Dominican Republic

New York, February 15, 2017 — Authorities in the Dominican Republic should establish a motive in the murder of radio journalists Luis Manuel Medina and Leónidas Martínez and prosecute all those responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two radio journalists were shot and killed yesterday during a Facebook Live broadcast at the…

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CPJ Newsletter: March edition

Landmark conviction in 2000 attack on Colombian journalist A Colombian court on February 26 convicted a former paramilitary fighter in the kidnapping and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The fighter, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, was also ordered to pay a fine of around US$17,500.

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Dominican Republic court partially strikes down criminal libel laws

New York, February 25, 2016 — A recent decision by the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court to strike down laws providing for criminal penalties for defamation is a step forward in the fight to eliminate criminal defamation laws in the Americas, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ called on Dominican authorities to strike all…

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CPJ urges OAS not to weaken human rights system

Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.

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Dominican Republic: Journalist given six months in jail

New York, January 31, 2012–The six-month jail sentence of Dominican journalist Johnny Alberto Salazar, who was convicted of defaming a local lawyer on January 18, should be revoked on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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For journalists, coverage of political unrest proves deadly

Journalists die at high rates while covering protests in the Arab world and elsewhere. Photographers and freelancers appear vulnerable. Pakistan is again the deadliest nation. A CPJ special report

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