(PFC/IFEX) – The government has threatened to take legal action against journalists who make accusations of corruption without providing evidence or who “defame” government officials. On 6 February 2003, presidential legal advisor Guido Gomez Mazara stated that “anyone who issues a defamatory statement will be subject to judicial action.” He announced the imminent opening of […]
(PFC/IFEX) – The government has threatened to take legal action against journalists who make accusations of corruption without providing evidence or who “defame” government officials.
On 6 February 2003, presidential legal advisor Guido Gomez Mazara stated that “anyone who issues a defamatory statement will be subject to judicial action.” He announced the imminent opening of two cases, one against an unidentified television producer, and the other against journalist Julio Martínez Pozo, a commentator on Radio Z-101’s programme “El Gobierno de la Mañana”.
The government’s hard line is believed to come directly from President Hipolito Mejía, in reaction to a report by Martínez about an unidentified high-ranking official who reportedly imported an armour-plated car without paying the appropriate taxes. President Mejía recently called Martínez while he was on the air and angrily demanded that the journalist prove his claims and name the official. Martínez refused, arguing that it is the government that must investigate the case and identify the culprit.
Government sources have told local media that legal action will also be taken against former presidential secretary Rafael Flores Estrella, who also publically complained about the improper manner in which the armour-plated car was imported.
PFC agrees with the Dominican Association of Journalists and Writers’ (Asociacion Dominicana de Periodistas y Escritores, ADPE) view that the president “unfairly” questioned Martínez.
In a letter to President Mejía, PFC expressed its concern about the government’s attitude towards those who denounce acts of corruption, and its fear that legal action might be used indiscriminately to silence all those who criticise government officials. The appropriate reaction of governments accused of corruption, argues PFC, is not to prosecute those who make the accusations, but rather to permit full access to all information pertinent to the case in question and to punish any guilty parties.
Mejía’s government, long accused of doing too little to combat corruption, has faced a growing number of such complaints in the last month, from sources as diverse as the Catholic church and the Citizen Participation (Participacion Ciudadana) movement, which withdrew from the Presidential Anti-Corruption Council (Consejo Asesor en Materia de Lucha Anticorrupcion de la Presidencia). According to former federal prosecutor Alexis Joaquín Castillo, lack of government will renders the Anti-Corruption Department (Departamento Anticorrupcion, DEPRECO) ineffective. Castillo also feels that the president made an error when he failed to authorise an investigation of corrupt members of the Dominican Liberation Party (Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana, PLD). In addition, former attorney general Virgilio Bello Rossa resigned out of dissatisfaction with the executive’s scant support for the struggle against corruption.
For PFC’s letter to President Mejía, reports and other information pertinent to the case, see:
http://portal-pfc.org/perseguidos/2003/013.html
Recommended Action
Send appeals to President Mejía:
– asking that he not take legal action against Martínez or others who shed a light on corruption
– noting that the prosecution of those who expose corruption violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression and the right to criticise politicians
– requesting that he allow unrestricted access to public information, especially as regards corruption, that he have allegations of corruption investigated and ensure that any guilty parties are punished
Appeals To
Hipolito Mejía
President
National Palace
Av. Mexico esq. C/ Dr. Delgado
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Tel: +809 688 67116
Fax: +809 686 7830
E-mail: hipolito@hipolito.com.do, prensa@presidencia.gov.do, internet@presidencia.gov.do
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
