Vague bill concerns Dominican Republic press

Santo Domingo.- Leaving open the possibility of interpretation and discretion in the application of a law could represent a threat to freedom of expression and the exercise of journalism through the media in the Dominican Republic.

The statement was made separately the jurist and communicator Namphi Rodríguez; the members of the Dominican Society of Newspapers (SDD), Persio Maldonado, editor in chief of the newspaper El Nuevo Diario and Miguel Franjul, editor in chief of the newspaper Listín Diario, as well as the president of the Dominican Association of Journalists (CDP), Aurelio Henríquez.

They analyzed the bill for statute that regulates the exercise of the right to privacy, honor, good name and image, approved last week in first reading in the Senate.

Although Rodríguez described the intention of the proponent of the piece, Senator Melania Salvador, as positive, he said that despite the fact that the Constitutional Court has issued some seven or eight sentences regarding freedom of expression, in the country there are still many gaps on the subject.

“The project seems to me that it suffers from several shortcomings. There are many open criminal types that are left to the scope of interpretation and discretion and represent threats to freedom of expression and to citizens on social networks.”