A Haitian senator is urging President Michel Martelly to sue a Dominican Republic journalist who reported on alleged presidential corruption in Haiti, according to the newspaper Diario Horizonte.
Haitian Sen. Edwin Zenny, a friend of the president, said Dominican Republic journalist Nuria Piera was trying to "sully" Martelly's image, according to Defend Haiti. Two days after Piera's story, "Path of Millions," aired, Dominican authorities began investigating corruption allegations related to no-bid contracts awarded after the 2010 Haitian earthquake to construction companies owned by powerful Dominican Sen. Felix Bautista, explained the Associated Press. Piera also reported that Bautista paid a $2.5 million kickback to the Haitian president.
Since the story aired, the Dominican journalist has been harassed by intelligence authorities trying to determine her information sources.
