The National District Appeals Court rejected the request of Major General Adan Caceres Silvestre for the lifting of house arrest and electronic ankle monitoring. Caceres Silvestre is a former presidential security chief and is the main defendant in a major corruption case known as Operacion Coral.
Caceres Silvestre was accused of corruption while serving as head of the Presidential Security Corps (Cusep). He was arrested shortly after the change in authorities at the Attorney General Office with the change of government in 2020.
The Third Hall of the National District Penal Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Pedro Sánchez and including judges Daniel Nolasco and Nancy Joaquín, announced the decision to not change Caceres Silvestre’s trial custody conditions after hearing prosecutors from the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (PEPCA).
At the hearing, the defendant’s defense attorneys, Cristian Martínez, Romer Jiménez, and Francisco Álvarez, had asked the court to modify the coercive measure and consequently lift the house arrest and remove the electronic bracelet.
Caceres Silvestre had previously to receiving house arrest spent 18 months in the Najayo-Hombres prison.
Caceres Silvestre is the main accused in the Coral Case that also includes around 30 police officers and military personnel. The case is in the trial stage, heard by the First Collegiate Court of the National District, but progress has been slow due to the constant postponements of the hearings.
The Coral case also includes as defendants pastor Rossy Guzmán, her son Tanner Flete Guzmán, police colonel Rafael Núñez de Aza, former head of the Presidential Security Corps Financial Department, Alejandro Montero Cruz, and Major Alejandro Girón Jiménez.
Girón Jiménez is under house arrest at a confidential address for his safety, as he is a key prosecution witness and collaborator.
In a related case, another court is hearing the Operation Coral 5G case, with accusations against generals Juan Carlos Torres Robiou (FARD), Boanerges Reyes Batista (ARD) and Julio Camilo de los Santos Viola (FARD), as well as navy captain (ARD) Franklin Mata Flores and José Manuel Rosario Pirón.
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Listin Diario
4 June 2024