PRESS FREEDOM

Dominican Republic journalist faces murder mastermind threats

Threats to Dominican Republic investigative journalist Alicia Ortega Hasbunfrom an inmate sharing a jail cell with an alleged drug lord convicted this week as the mastermind in the murder of another journalist have sparked international outcry.

A well-known television newscaster and winner of multiple Emmys, Ortega is a partner of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. She spoke with us about the threats and their connection to alleged syndicate boss Matias Avelino Castro, as well as how seriously the threats are being treated by authorities.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate threats made against you. What threats have you received?

I received threats of bodily harm allegedly made by an inmate convicted of drug trafficking and serving time in the same jail block as Matias Avelino Castro, allegedly the head of the drug trafficking organization in the eastern portion of Dominican Republic. Avelino Castro was extradited from Colombia last year and was this week convicted of ordering the execution of a journalist back in 2011.

How did you learn of the alleged threats?

Less than 12 hours after airing a story about Avelino Castro’s past, his current judicial process, how he avoided authorities for years, and how three witnesses have already died – two in shady circumstances, I got word that if he was convicted, I would be harmed.

Those threats were made in the presence of a group of prisoners, including Avelino Castro, who watched the story in his jail cell. Mind you it is not your regular jail cell. In the past, I have reported on amenities that some privileged inmates have that allow them to continue their dirty business dealings even behind bars.

They offered protection immediately, including assigning members of the elite forces to watch over my family and me

Alicia Ortega Hasbun

Why do you believe the threats have been made?

Avelino Castro’s trial was taking place 50 miles east of the capital but no one was covering it, not even the local journalists in the city of San Pedro de Macros. The judges hearing the case refused to be filmed, as did prosecutors.

After our story aired, it put pressure on a judicial system that has been plagued with corruption, including payoffs for judges and prosecutors in exchange for not guilty verdicts.

Matias Avelino Castro was sentenced to 20 years jail as an accomplice to the murder of journalist Jose Agustin Silvestre, who was shot dead in August 2011. In what circumstances is Silvestre alleged to have died?

Silvestre was a journalist in La Romana, a small city on the eastern portion of the island. He reported on drug trafficking and related crimes on TV and in his own magazine. Back in 2011, he mentioned Avelino Castro’s name, as having possible links to at least two deaths in the area. He was abducted, killed, and his body tossed into a remote wooded area.

Are threats against journalists common in the Dominican Republic?

They are not common, especially in recent history.

Have many journalists in your country been victims of violence because of their work?

In the seventies there were death threats, car explosions and one journalist was murdered, but for political reasons, not drug related.

https://www.icij.org/blog/2018/04/dominican-republican-journalist-alicia-ortega-hasbun-faces-murder-mastermind-threats/