Judge Alejandro Moscoso Segarra has postponed the hearing of the case presented by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito against senator Felix Bautista (PLD San Juan de la Maguana) until Friday, 5 December 2014 at 3pm. The defendants argued they had not had time to review the evidence against Felix Bautista presented by the Attorney General.
Felix Bautista is the political secretary of the ruling PLD party.
Civil society represented in the case by the Ciudadanos Contra la Corrupcion (C3) movement earlier in the hearing was excluded on a technicality regarding the complaint. The decision was on grounds that they presented a “querella-denuncia” instead of a “querella” as ordered by the Penal Code.
C3 lawyer Remberto Pichardo said they were not surprised. “It was to be expected because it is a whim of the senator that civil society should not participate because he has had problems with civil society in the courts and has gone crying to all those judicial staff to ensure that C3 does not take part in the hearing.”
They said they expected Moscoso to reject the possibility of opening up the hearing into the corruption and asset laundering case presented by the Attorney General against the high-ranking official in the Leonel Fernandez governments. Bautista managed billions as head of the Supervisory Works Office of the Presidency (OISOE).
Moscoso Segarra was recently accused of bias as he is on the list of members of the influential PLD Central Committee. He told the press he had resigned from the committee in 2009 when he was appointed prosecutor. Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito is also a member of the PLD Central Committee.
Supreme Court president Mariano German is also listed as a member of the PLD Central Committee.
http://acento.com.do/2014/actualidad/8201469-aplazan-de-nuevo-caso-felix-bautista/
El caos imperó en la apertura del sometimiento a Félix Bautista
http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=396529
http://impactodigital.com.do/?p=70585
http://www.primicias.com.do/index.php/opinion/8588-una-maquinaria-judicial-para-proteger-peledeistas