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DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC A year and a half after reporter Juan Andujar was shot and killed, the police have not been able to arrest the alleged murderer of the journalist, who was known for reporting on and fighting the activities of drug traffickers and crime in general in the south of the country. At the local chapter of the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP, by its initials in Spanish) in Azua, individuals recently placed black crosses, which the association believes to be a threat against journalists from that city and a reaction to public statements by the organization’s leaders. The attack against radio and television reporter and commentator Euri Cabral has also not been solved either, despite the fact that investigations began in September 2004 and despite constant pleas that this case not go unpunished. Nor have authorities given satisfactory responses to complaints about attacks and threats against journalists Roberto Sandoval and Rafael G. Santana. Sandoval, who produces the show “Tribuna de la Noche” (Night Forum) on Comercial Radio and the program “Justo a Tiempo” (Right on Time), on Channel 10, Telecable Nacional, filed a complaint earlier this month that three armed men kidnapped him, but he escaped when they tried to kill him in the town of Llamaza. Sandoval attributed the incident to statements he had made against crime. The results of the police investigation are unknown at this time. In December 2005, reporter Rafael G. Santana reported that he and his family felt threatened by heavily armed individuals keeping watch around his residence. Santana, who attributes the threats to his campaign against drug trafficking and corruption, complains that no authority has bothered to investigate his report and he fears for his safety. Another troublesome sign is a certain level of disrespect, intolerance, and lack of understanding of some officials, as well as entities and citizens alike, of the work of journalists that take on a critical posture. Legal proceedings in the case of the masterminds in the murder of journalist Orlando Martínez remain in limbo, and his relatives and the press complain that there is little interest in identifying and punishing the perpetrators now several years after this incident cast a pall over the national press. The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) demanded that officials investigate and turn over to the courts those responsible for the recent attacks against several journalists and cameramen last week in Línea Noroeste, Higuey, Monte Plata, and in the South. In March, journalists William Estévez, secretary general for the SNTP chapter in Dajabón and correspondent for Channel 29 in Santiago; and Rafael Mets, correspondent for Telemicro, Channels 5 and 15, were attacked. Members of the National Army roughed up reporter Juan Bautista Rodríguez (Milingo), correspondent for Listín Diario newspaper, and cameraman Julio Arache, from Mía TV, Channel 10, while covering the eviction of a group of peasants in the town of Ruanillo, Higuey.
Copyright © 2003 Inter American Press Association. All rights reserved. . |
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