US must increase funds to guarantee press freedom: Espaillat
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Santo Domingo.- Dominican-born congressman Adriano Espaillat on Wed. stated concerned about the death threat to investigative journalist Alicia Ortega, allegedly by an inmate charged in the murder of reporter José Silvestre.
He said Washington must be increase the funds to the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean countries to guarantee freedom of the press and to wage a stronger fight against drug trafficking. “These funds must be used properly to fight organized crime, drug trafficking, street violence and in this case, guarantee respect for freedom of press and the media.”
Ortega, one of the country’s leading investigative journalists, said she filed the complaint and provided the names of the suspects in Silvestre’s murder, ordered by a powerful group linked to drug trafficking in the eastern region.