The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic ordered an investigation into the case of the death of 30-year old lawyer Anibel Gonzalez on Saturday, 1 September 2019 in the early morning at her residence in Los Maestros, San Pedro de Macorís. Rodríguez says the participation of prosecutor Margarita Hernández of San Pedro de Macorís needs to be reviewed. The premature release of Fernández from jail is attributed to an agreement drafted by the prosecutor.
Justice Ministry Inspector General Bolivar Sanchez and Ana Andrea Villa Camacho, head of the gender violence division of the Attorney General’s Office, are in charge of the investigation. Gonzalez’s former husband, Yasmil Oscar Fernández Estévez (Ray Fernández) is the owner of a furnishing business.
Fernández supposedly shot her with three bullet shots and then killed himself.
Fernández was sentenced to five years jail in 2017 for attempting to murder his former wife, injuring her then with seven stab wounds. “It is unexplainable how this man was free after only a year and a half in jail, despite his record of physical and psychological violence against the victim,” said Miguel Surun Hernández, president of the Dominican Lawyers Guild (CARD). The CARD said that if the law had been fulfilled, Anibel González would still be alive for her three children.
Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) opposition party pre-candidate Luis Abinader says the death is another proof of the weaknesses of the Dominican justice.
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2 September 2019