The Dominican Republic is working closely with Polish prosecutors in the case of Polish priest Wojciech Waldemar (Alberto Gil) accused of sexual abuse in Juncalito in Santiago province. However, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito says the prosecution of former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski has been delegated to the Vatican. Dominguez Brito was speaking at a press conference held in Warsaw, also attended by his Polish counterpart Andrej Seremet and Santiago prosecutor Luisa Liranzo.
Wesolowski was the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the DR from 2008 to 2013, when he left the country abruptly after a Santiago TV show aired an investigative report on Wojciech Waldemar that also showed the priest had a close friendfship with Wesolowski. TV investigative journalist Nuria Piera also carried out an investigation into Wesolowski’s relations with low-income boys with whom he would meet in the area around the Montesinos monument in Santo Domingo.
Dominguez Brito said the Dominican state could not prosecute a former papal envoy suspected of child sex crimes because treaty obligations give the Vatican full jurisdiction.
“Under the Vienna Convention, the prosecution of diplomats lies within the jurisdiction of the country that issued their accreditation.”
Jozef Wesolowski is in custody after being defrocked in June 2014 on charges of abusing children when serving as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic.
In Warsaw during the press conference with Dominguez Brito, Poland’s Attorney General Andrzej Szeremet said that Polish prosecutors could gather their own evidence in the Dominican Republic regarding Wesolowski, who is a Polish citizen.
“The Vatican’s prosecution of the case does not rule out Poland also conducting its own investigation,” Szeremet said at the joint press conference.
If convicted, Wesolowski could face a seven-year jail sentence.
In January 2014, the United Nations condemned the Catholic Church for failing to stamp out child abuse and allowing systematic cover-ups by moving clergy suspected of pedophilia to posts in other countries.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2014/12/01/i907411_procurador-polonia-dice-juicio-contra-padre-alberto-gil-iniciara-enero.html