Opposition party leader Eduardo Sanz Lovatón requested an explanation from the Attorney General Office (PGR) regarding the tapping of his mobile phone. Sanz said he had accompanied former senators Andrés Bautista, Alfredo Pacheco and Jesús “Chu” Vásquez when these were investigated by prosecutors. He explained he acted as a lawyer, friend of the fellow party members and PRM leader. He said that eventually Bautista, Pacheco and Vásquez would choose other lawyers to be their legal counsel in the Odebrecht bribe case more than a year ago. He questions the reasons for the tapping of his phone.
He said that he has learned that Judge Francisco Ortega, who is hearing the Odebrecht bribes case in the Dominican Republic, had authorized the tapping of his mobile. He said he has asked for a certification from the telecom company to prove that his mobile had been tapped, and why the tap was authorized by the judge. He said the telephone has always been in his name and does not understand the reason why the tapping would have been authorized.
Sanz Lovatón is secretary of finances of the leading opposition party, and the political director of the campaign of Luis Abinader.
PRM deputy Faride Raful complained that the Attorney General Office also requested the tapping of the phone of Emmanuel Bautista, son of the former president of the Senate Andres Bautista.
The president of the PRM party, Senator José Ignacio Paliza, complained that the tapping of telephones is evidence that Dominican democracy is sick.
Several lawyers stated in an interview with El Dia that the wiretapping of the telephones of defense lawyers by prosecutors is illegal.
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25 April 2019