DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

During this period there have been no situations endangering press freedom. However, within the journalistic community and the population in general there is frustration about a series of unpunished crimes against journalists who were practicing their profession. The most worrisome case is that of Juan Andújar, who was shot to death on September 14, 2004 by bandits associated with drug trafficking in Azua, a provincial city. Andújar was killed because of his campaign of public reports saying that the indifference and connivance of police had made it possible for drug dealing to disrupt life in that town. The case has not been solved. The main suspect of being the mastermind is a fugitive. The press has maintained a critical attitude toward this situation, demanding justice to guarantee safety to correspondents in the provinces who could be terrorized and prevented from reporting fully. Another case of an unpunished murder is that of Orlando Martínez, victim of repressive forces that operated in the country in the ‘70s. Although after years of judicial inaction, the case was reopened in the courts and the murderers were sentenced to 30 years. Now, however, the case has gone back to the beginning because of a ruling based on technicalities concerning the rights of the defendants. Despite complaints of relatives, friends and journalists the legal investigations could never find the people behind the crime, which at the time was thought to be ordered by the government to silence the column “Microscopio”, published in El Nacional newspaper. Another unpunished crime is that of journalist Gregorio García Castro who was also murdered in the ‘70s. García Castro was managing editor of the evening newspaper Última Hora and published a column “En un Tris,” which analyzed and reported matters concerning officials and bureaucrats. Authorities also have not been able to solve the disappearance of journalist, lawyer and university professor Narciso González, who had criticized the Dominican electoral process in the magazine La Muralla in 1994.