The Dominican Journalists Association (CDP), communications media directors and lawyers have rejected the idea that press crimes should be penalized with imprisonment.
During the public viewing of the proposed bill to modify the Penal Code, the former president of the Inter-American Press Society (SIP), Rafael Molina Morillo, director of El Dia newspaper, warned that the proposal included articles that were a serious threat to freedom of expression in the Dominican Republic and a shameful backward step for democracy. “Nobody should be penalized for criticizing public officials. That would be a step back for society and democracy,” said CDP president Aurelio Henriquez. He said penalizations should be moral not penal.
Molina Morillo has asked for the elimination of articles 193 and 191 from the Penal Code. He suggested that Congress instead review the bill that was prepared by experts to replace the Law on Freedom of Expression (Law 6132). He said this is a great opportunity for deputies to correct the distortions between the Freedom of Expression Law and what is established in the Penal Code.
Servio Tulio Castanos, vice president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus) advocated changing the code to remove the penalties for defamation and libel.
The vice president of the Inter-American Press Society’s Press Freedom Commission, Miguel Franjul, said it was time to change the Law on Freedom of Expression (Law 6132) and the Penal Code.
The president of the Foundation for Justice and Transparency, Trajano Potentini, confirmed that the Penal Code as approved by the deputies violated the Constitution and gagged the press, while lawyer Roberto Alvarez agreed that the new penalties in the Penal Code were not in line with the Constitution.
A group from the CDP arrived at Congress with gags on their mouths to symbolically reject the bill, saying it was an attack on freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
www.eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/11/14/99164/Comunicadores-y-juristas-abogan-delito-de-prensa-no-sea-sancionado-con