The Dominican College of Journalists (CDP) joined top reporters
and newspaper editorials in condemning threats of retaliation against critics
Various news outlets and a leading journalism association in the Dominican Republic accused the Office of the Attorney General at the Public Ministry of launching “a clear threat to freedom of the press” when it issued a lengthy statement on Monday threatening official retaliation against critics of its policies.
“It’s clear that the threats from the Office of the Attorney General are directed against attorneys, reporters, communicators, opinion writers, influencers and the media itself,” wrote the leading newspaper El Nacional in an editorial.
According to a news report, the Public Ministry made a direct threat against the Dominican Justice Initiative and threatened “preventative” measures against those critical of those same policies in its statement. DJI responded with a statement indicating that “we will not be silenced.”
One of the leading Dominican journalists targeted by the Public Ministry for his reporting – broadcaster Julio Martínez Pozo – labeled the official threats “pathetic, threatening, defamatory, harmful and dictatorial”.
The Dominican College of Journalists (CDP) called the Public Ministry’s statement “an attack on the free exercise of the profession of journalism”.
“The journalist is a professional called upon to inform society, and according to the Constitution we have the right to never be censored by any branch of the state, be it judicial, legislative or executive,” said CDP President Aurelio Henríquez.
In a column in Listin Diario, Federico A. Jovine Rijo wrote that the threats of retaliation “are a direct attack on press freedom in the country” in which the Public Ministry “not only constrains and threatens the practice of journalism, but also diminishes due process by becoming accuser, judge and party.”
Jovine also said in a post on X that “this cannot end here” and the issue should be taken to the InterAmerican Press Association (IAPA) “so that the world knows the way in which the Public Ministry with its own agenda intimidates and threatens the press”.