Backlash against prosecutor

[NewsWhore]

Members of the public and private sector are coming out in defense of journalist Felivia Mejia and denouncing the actions of Puerto Plata Court of Appeals prosecutor Felix Alvarez Rivera, who called Mejia asking her where she got the Police report with information about alleged complicity between 32 cops in Puerto Plata and drug dealers. It is believed the call was made in an attempt to pressure Mejia into self-censorship. Mercedes Castillo, president of the Dominican Journalists Association, highlights the fact that the prosecutor has no right to ask any journalist to reveal their sources. Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) vice president Servio Tulio Castanos says the act by Alvarez is an attack against not only investigative journalism in the DR, but on freedom of communication. Civic group Citizen Participation (PC) also spoke out against the prosecutor's actions, and called on Attorney General Radhames Jimenez to investigate and ask for an explanation. Director of El Nacional newspaper and Clave Digital journalist Gustavo Olivo also voiced concerns about what the calls by Alvarez represent for journalism in the DR. In response to the accusations, AG Jimenez wrote a letter to El Caribe repudiating Alvarez's actions, adding that he had been contacted and asked for an explanation for his actions. In the letter, published in today's edition of El Caribe, the AG apologizes to the paper and Mejia. Interviewed on the Huchi Lora radio show, Felix Alvarez confirmed that he made the call, but denied that he had tried to intimidate the journalist.

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