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Alert

IAPA reiterates call for due process to be followed in Editora Listín Diario case

(IAPA/IFEX) - The following is a 30 April 2004 IAPA press release:

IAPA calls for due process to be followed in Listín Diario case

Miami (April 30, 2004) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has reiterated its position calling for due process to be followed in the case of Editora Listín Diario, a Santo Domingo-based publishing company.

Of the four newspaper which Editora Listín Diario used to publish, only one, Listín Diario newspaper, is still in circulation. The company was taken over by the government after one of its owners was accused of fraud and involvement in the financial collapse of a bank. The company's lawyers have argued that the government take-over is illegal and on 22 April 2004 an appeals court ordered the return of the newspaper to its owners.

The court order has not been executed, however, since the country's solicitor general has launched an appeal of the ruling with the Supreme Court and has said that the return of the paper to its owners should not take place until the Supreme Court has made a decision on the case.

IAPA expressed its hope that due process will be followed in the case, that the rights of Listín Diario's owners will be respected and that press freedom will not suffer as a result of these actions.

In the meantime, the newspaper is continuing to operate under a government-appointed administrator and editorial director.