On Friday afternoon, the Attorney General Office desisted from its investigations of Colonel Ramón Antonio Guzmán Peralta and Claro technician Manuel Antonio Regalado Martínez, both singled out by the Public Ministry as having ties to the sabotage of the municipal election on Sunday, 16 February 2020. Adjunct prosecutor Joan Alcántara said the process could continue with the men out of jail.
Defense lawyer Antoliano Peralta said this was a win of the Dominican people that vehemently called for respect to the Constitution and the rights of these persons. Peralta on Thursday, 20 February had filed a complaint demanding that Army Colonel Koji Maruyama be investigated. Both security officers had expressed concern about taking preventive actions against possible sabotage related to the 16 February election. This was captured in a chat that was leaked to the media.
The defense lawyer Peralta denied charges pressed by the Police and Attorney General prosecutors that the two were involved in the collapse of the e-voting system. He demanded a serious investigation. He said no file had been submitted because the authorities were still “inventing” what would go into the file.
After the release, the media showed how both Guzmán and Regalado thanked the Dominican people for their support. Both had been subject to a long ordeal after their arrest on Sunday, 16 February.
The two were arrested after Regalado Martínez had alerted Guzmán of the suspicious attempted entry to a Claro facility by Army colonel Koji Maruyama. In an interview with investigative journalist, Regalado had stated the prosecutors were not looking for the truth, but for someone to blame.
The Electoral Military Police said that Maruyama was in charge of the custody and physical security of the optic fiber that connected the Central Electoral Board (JCE) computer center.
Former President Leonel Fernandez tweeted on the issue: “Due to popular pressure, the government is forced to abandon its strategy of distracting from the failed attempt at fraud in the municipal elections. The false investigation and the hoax of the Public Ministry and the National Police have been defeated.”
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24 February 2020
