Administrative High Court Schedules Hearing for Esteban Cabrera and El Faro Latino vs. Jáquez Liranzo and JCE

Santo Domingo, DN: The Administrative High Court has called for a public hearing in person on April 9, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., in Room 03 of the Fourth Chamber of the Administrative High Court, where case #2025-0054632 will be heard. This case concerns a writ of amparo for compliance filed by Esteban Cabrera and the newspaper El Faro Latino against the refusal of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to provide the financial documents related to the expenses of the Dominican elections 2024 abroad.

The newspaper El Faro Latino is investigating reports of possible embezzlement of the electoral funds allocated by the JCE for the Dominican elections abroad, held on May 19, 2024.

In this context, on October 21, 2024, the newspaper requested through the JCE’s Access to Information Directorate the delivery of documents related to the APPLICATION AND METHOD of the budget execution used by the institution to cover the elections in the 33 Electoral Logistics Coordination Offices (OCLEEs).

The objective of the request is to subject this information to a forensic audit and analyze it in an ongoing journalistic investigation aimed at ruling out any misuse of the funds designated for the Dominican elections abroad. However, the JCE has refused to provide the requested documents and, instead, has sent deficient documentation that does not meet the requirements established by law.

As a result of this refusal, El Faro Latino filed a writ of amparo under Law 200-04 on public information access before the Administrative High Court, with the hearing scheduled for April 9, 2025.

This case reflects an essential fight for transparency and access to public information in the Dominican Republic, particularly concerning the management of public funds in a key electoral process for the Dominican community abroad.