Former Secretary to the President, Alexandrina German?s refusal to answer a subpoena issued by the special anti-corruption prosecutor continues to make front-page news. The highest ranking women in the administration of President Leonel Fernandez has been summoned to answer questions about alleged irregularities in the administration of a scholarship program provided by the University of Utah for ?indigent? students. Children of high-ranking officials of the Fernandez administration, as well as German?s own daughter, were among the recipients of the Utah grants. The print press, as well as TV and radio commentators, comment untiringly on both the legal and human rights dimensions of the refusal. Some have seen it as an assertion of feminism, others as a test of gender equality, and still others as yet another case of simple corruption in high places. In the face of German?s resistance to the subpoena, Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa added a note of gentlemanly humor to the furor when he said that in stead of issuing a bench warrant, he would ?escort her personally? to her appointment with the special prosecutor.
