Parmenio Medina Pérez

Chief Justice Supreme Court of Justice Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Haiti Mr. Chief Justice, The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), with the signatures of newspaper readers from throughout the Americas, is writing to you to express its satisfaction at the ruling issued ßsome weeks ago that punishes the perpetrator of a crime committed against a journalist. We have on several occasions noted a delay in justice being done because of negligence, apathy and irregularities. On many such occasions the police inquiries and legal process have been inexplicably stalled and have instead become obstacles to the actions aimed at bringing those guilty of the crimes to trial. But this time, Mr. Chief Justice, we applaud the fact that a court of justice in your country has sentenced to prison the murderer of journalist. The conviction is an encouraging step in ensuring punishment for this kind of crime. We urge all courts in the Americas to continue taking such action and handing down sentences in other crimes whose legal process is stalled. An end must be put to impunity. Sincerely,