The president of the Chamber of Deputies Justice Commission, Demostenes Martinez, says that custodial sentences for defamation or slander have been removed from the Penal Code. He said that he thought that it was unconstitutional for anyone to go to prison for these types of offenses. He said that from now on, fines but not prison sentences would be imposed on anyone convicted of either of these crimes. The editors of Listin Diario, El Dia and El Caribe had appealed to the Constitutional Court to declare the prison sentences unconstitutional.