In an unprecedented move, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito has asked the Judicial Branch Council, the body that appoints the judges, to investigate six judges and former judges suspected of negotiating with defendants in exchange for their freedom and other benefits.
The judges that have been suspended without pay are Francisco Alberto Arias Valera from Santo Domingo, Awilda Ines Reyes Beltre, Jose Dionicio Duverge Mejia, Delio Antonio German Figueroa, Roso Vallejo Espinosa and Victor Mejia Lebron.
Dominguez Brito said that Arias Ventura allegedly led a structure within the Judicial Branch with judges, employees, former judges, lawyers as members, who engaged in manipulating the judicial process and negotiating the freedom of individuals linked to organized crime in drug dealing, money laundering and corruption.
Arias Valera recently had resigned from the judiciary’s Judicial Branch Council (CPJ). He had been appointed to the post in 2011.
El Dia reports on the key case decisions by the suspended judges that have raised red flags in the judiciary.
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2015/11/16/i200438_procuraduria-pide-scj-investigar-seis-jueces-que-negociaban-libertad-procesados.html
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/justicia/juez-explica-motivos-de-su-renuncia-al-cpj-YY1881625
http://www.elnuevodiario.com.do/app/frontpage.aspx
El Consejo del Poder Judicial anuncia la suspensión de jueces