A law student from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in Bani has complained that he was tortured in Bani jail by the police and inmates.
José William Calderón Franco told the local press about the torture he was subject to after he went to the jail to request that the authorities release a neighbor of his who had been arrested in a raid on Thursday 21 June 2018. Calderon Franco said that having asked about the detained man, a construction worker, the police insulted him, handcuffed him and put him in a cell with other inmates.
He said that there several police hit him and kicked him, and in tears, he said they hit him with a plank on the buttocks, chest and back, even after he rolled up on the floor in a fetal position.
Others in the cell were also tortured being made to stand on a bench with a gallon of water in each hand, and were punched without being allowed to drop the water. Later they had to stand for hours with their arms above their heads.
He said that one of the police told him this was to teach him not to mess with the police and that he had to learn that those lawyers who were successful were those who worked with the police.
He named some of those allegedly involved in the torture including Lieutenant Germán, Sergeant Soto Lugo. Calderon Franco claimed that officers were acting under the orders of Colonel Báez Ubier.
Franco was accompanied at the press conference by Senator Wilton Guerrero, who asked General Brown Pérez to order a proper investigation into the case and transfer those police who were implicated in the incident away from Bani.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
27 June 2018
