After more than three years, the First Collegiate Court of the National District has lifted the house arrest and electronic bracelet imposed on Major General Adán Cáceres Silvestre, the key figure in the Coral Operation Danilo Medina government corruption case. Cáceres Silvestre was the all-powerful security head for former President Danilo Medina.
The Coral and Coral 5G cases involve police and military personnel accused of corruption. Proceedings are taking place in the First Collegiate Court of the National District, overseen by judges Giselle Méndez, Tania Yunes, and Jissel Naranjo.
Judge Esmirna Gisselle Méndez ruled to eliminate the electronic monitoring, but maintained financial guarantees and travel restrictions as precautionary measures. Cáceres will now continue his legal proceedings, which are currently in the trial phase, while free. The trial resumes on 26 September 2024 with cross-examinations of witnesses.
Despite accusations, Cáceres Silvestre has been allowed to maintain his military rank, the highest in the Dominican Republic.
As reported, Cáceres celebrated the court’s decision alongside friends, family, and his legal team at the Ciudad Nueva Palace of Justice.
Cristian Martínez, Cáceres’s attorney, stated, “Today we achieved what should have been done long ago, which was to simply end the excessive coercive measures that had been in place.” He noted that Cáceres had been under preventive detention for over three years. Martínez emphasized: “The Public Ministry has not presented any evidence of wrongdoing or of a flight risk. His behavior has been appropriate, and today we corrected that error.”
The lead people implicated in the Coral Operation are Major General Adán Cáceres Silvestre, Rossy Guzmán Sánchez (known as “la Pastora”), police corporal Tanner Antonio Flete Guzmán (son of the religious figure), Colonel Rafael Núñez de Aza, and Navy Sergeant Alejandro José Montero Cruz.
In the Coral 5G Operation, linked to Coral, arrests included Generals Juan Carlos Torres Robiou (FARD), Boanerges Reyes Batista (ARD), and Julio Camilo de los Santos Viola (FARD), along with Navy Captain Franklin Mata Flores (ARD) and José Manuel Rosario Pirón.
Others implicated in the case include Carlos Lantigua, Alfredo Pichardo, Erasmo Roger Pérez, Jehohanan Lucía Rodríguez, Yehudy Blandesmil Guzmán, and Esmeralda Ortega Polanco.
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Diario Libre
18 September 2024