Greater action needed to prevent violence against journalists

Expression

Official investigations concluded that the murders of radio journalist Luis Manuel Medina and newsreader Leónidas Martínez were not linked to their reporting work and therefore do not constitute an attack on freedom of expression. 

On 14th February 2017, the two media professionals were shot on air as they read the morning news bulletin and both died at the scene of the crime. According to the investigation, it appears that the killer shot the reporters in retaliation for issues with mismanagement of properties he had purchased from the Consejo Estatal del Azúcar (State Council of Sugar - CEI), a transaction in which he believed the reporters played an unspecified role. The culprit then killed himself before the police were able to capture him.

The Dominican government subsequently announced that those responsible for mismanagement at CEI would be held accountable, and that the recommendations delivered by the commission in charge of the investigation would be implemented immediately.

The investigation ruled out a connection between the murders and the journalists' reporting. However, feelings of insecurity and fear prevail among many working in the Dominican media sector. In early April, the Inter-American Press Association called for greater action on the part of governments to end violence against media professionals, specifically in the Dominican Republic as well as in other Latin American countries where journalists have been killed over the previous six months.