On 19 June 1996, Juan Bolivar Diaz, director of the television channel Teleantillas, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined three million pesos (US $200,000) by judge Juan Maria Severino of the Criminal Court of Santo Domingo. Bolivar was convicted of defaming the head of the company Comunicaciones Ltd., Generoso Ledesma, after a […]
On 19 June 1996, Juan Bolivar Diaz, director of the television
channel Teleantillas, was sentenced to six months in prison and
fined three million pesos (US $200,000) by judge Juan Maria
Severino of the Criminal Court of Santo Domingo. Bolivar was
convicted of defaming the head of the company Comunicaciones
Ltd., Generoso Ledesma, after a trial that lasted only one and a
half hours. After the verdict was handed down, the prosecutor of
Santo Domingo described it as “abusive, excessive, outrageous,
and untimely.” Bolivar, who has decided to appeal the verdict, is
currently free.
In his book “Electoral Trauma”, Bolivar implicated Ledesma in the
alleged electoral fraud committed by the Reform Party during the
1994 Presidential election.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
as disproportionate to the alleged crime
press freedom as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International
Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, to which the Dominican
Republic is a signatory
sentence and that Bolivar be given a fair and equitable trial
Appeals To
His Excellency Joaquin Balaguer
President of the Republic
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
the diplomatic representative of the Dominican Republic in your
country
(in Canada)
Consulate of the Dominican Republic
10055 St Mathieu Central Tower
Suite 241
Montreal, PQ H3H 2S3
tel: (514) 933 9008
fax: (514) 933 2070
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
