In a statement released on Thursday, 19 November 2015, Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito explained why he decided not to appeal the Supreme Court of Justice ruling to file away the case for corruption against former director of the Supervisory Office of Public Works (OISOE), now senator Felix Bautista, who is also the organizational secretary of the ruling PLD. Bautista was said to be the key person who convinced former President Leonel Fernandez to support President Medina’s re-election aspirations. If the Constitution had not been amended, Leonel Fernandez was the most likely choice for PLD presidential candidate.
The trial would have obliged Bautista to justify the origin of his fortune, which is estimated at RD$27 billion. Before his career in politics, Bautista worked as a tailor in New York City. His first public asset statement totaled a modest RD$500,000.
Dominguez Brito justified his decision in a written statement released yesterday, Thursday, 19 November 2015, which was the deadline for the appeal. He said that that the decision against appealing was a way of fighting and pressing for a new wave of reforms. The statement adds that there was no point in appealing because most of the judges had already voted in favor of impunity.
Dominguez Brito had already declared that he would not appeal because he did not believe in Dominican justice. Nevertheless, earlier this week he proceeded to accuse six judges of belonging to a mafia-like structure operating within the legal system to benefit accused drug traffickers and other criminal suspects.
Meanwhile, Alianza Pais presidential candidate Guillermo Moreno called for a thorough purge and investigation of corruption in the Dominican justice system, including Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito himself, for his “suspicious refusal” to appeal the decision that upheld the ruling to dismiss the corruption case against the senator and leading PLD member Felix Bautista. Moreno also called for an investigation into the judges who voted in favor of filing away the Felix Bautista case.
http://acento.com.do/2015/actualidad/8301347-procurador-se-justifica-en-caso-felix-bautista-no-recurrir-es-una-forma-de-luchar/
http://almomento.net/acusan-a-dominguez-brito-de-complicidad-con-felix-bautista/155032