Journalist sued Samana Mayor fears for her life: Listin Diario

Santo Domingo.- Journalist Audeliza Solano Lopez on Thursday said she was assaulted by associates of Samana mayor Nadín Miguel Bezi Nicasio at a police station in San Francisco de Macoris (northwest), as intimidation for her charging him with slander.

Solano also links Bezi to an alleged drug case in 2011, which she covers on her TV show and in newspaper "Diario Samaná," as well as allegations of irregularities in Samaná’s City Council.

The journalist, who like the mayor is a member of the PLD party, said she hopes Samaná’s council member suspends Bezi, since he is currently in the middle of a trial.

Interviewed by newspaper Listin Diario, Solano said she’s worried that Bezi’s collaborators will continue to harass her, just as they’ve allegedly done since she sued him.

The journalist said Navy CPO Amaury Reyes, allegedly at the service of the mayor, on Tuesday punched her and snatched her cell phone in a police station after she photographed Bezi talking to a Police Major.

Solano believes the plan is to kill her. "Here there are no guarantees," Solano said, while showing a medical certificate as evidence of the assault, "it’s a blunt trauma to the sub-orbital region of the left eye."