A National District judge has placed an impediment on the movements of certain ex-police officials that will keep them in their residential areas for the duration of the investigation of the illicit distribution of recovered stolen vehicles. The officials involved, according to the Listin Diario, are ex-Police Chief Jaime Marte Martinez (now retired), Brigadier General Pedro Hernandez Reynoso (also retired), Yuri Ruiz Villalona, Osvaldo Hernandez de la Cruz, ex-General Ernesto Ovalles Concepcion and Colonels Felipe Manuel Terrero Garcia and Fausto Tiburcio (retired).
After leaving the tribunal where he had spent eight hours, Marte Martinez said that he and the other officials under investigation had offered years of service to the country and Dominican society and that the line of questioning they were facing was “an abuse.” The former police chief said the measure was an obstruction of police order, as certain of the individuals in question are still actively employed by the National Police and would not be able to carry out their functions if unable to leave the National District. Marte Martinez went as far as to say the action would even assist delinquency.
The defense council for those being investigated said the judge who ordered the impediment allegedly made the decision due to the gravity of the allegations and to lessen the risk of flight. The judge’s decision, they said, was supported by the newly-implemented Penal Code. Nevertheless, the lawyers on the case said the order was futile, as those being investigated would not try to leave the country as they were not guilty. Lawyer Carlos Balcacer said the measure should certainly be rescinded against General Villalona, in view of his rank and function within the National Police and the fact that he requires authorization to leave country anyway.