All three members of the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice were removed, including the president of the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, Miriam German Brito. Germán Brito had made headline news for several weeks when National Council of the Magistracy member, Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez, blasted her with fake accusations and in violation of the CNM ruling during the judge’s assessment turn. Germán Brito only received the favorable vote of PRM deputy Josefa Castillo, while juror Jose Ignacio Paliza of the opposition party PRM abstained.
TV host Huchi Lora said on El Dia talk show that the removal of Miriam Germán Brito ensures there will not be a dissident opinion to the handling of the Odebrecht corruption case under the Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez. The judge, with a year in advance, had alerted to the weak case being prepared by the state prosecutors under Rodríguez. So far, the defense counsel of seven accused by the Attorney General has presented evidence that the state prosecutors have not presented evidence to back up the accusations. TV host Huchi Lora has forecast the Odebrecht case will collapse for lack of preparation, calling this a new method to legally achieve impunity and evasion of justice by politicians. The other methods have been the archiving of the case and the declaration of not enough evidence for the case to proceed. These methods had benefited former President Leonel Fernandez, former Minister of Public Works Victor Diaz Rua, and the former director of the state public works construction office (OISOE), senator Felix Bautista, in 2015.
Judge Fran Soto, who acted as a member of the CNM, was confirmed at the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. He voted in favor of dismissing the corruption case against Felix Bautista in 2015. At the time, Judge Miriam German Brito criticized prosecutor Francisco Domínguez Brito for weaknesses in his preparation of this case.
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8 April 2019