Santo Domingo.– Prosecutor Aurelio Valdez Alcántara asserted this Wednesday that he will face the judicial process against him and that he is the person most interested in proving his innocence, during the hearing in which the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice is hearing the appeal against the coercive measure that keeps him in preventive detention.
Valdez Alcántara, accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of allegedly receiving a 10 thousand dollar bribe from a witness linked to the corruption case at the National Health Insurance (Senasa), took the floor before the judges to reject the charges brought against him.
“As stated in the file, the Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses me of things that have not happened, but my lawyers have been clearer and more exhaustive. I want to tell the court that we are ready to face the process. We are not going to evade it,” he expressed.
“I am the person most interested in clearing my name. And proof of this is that we have requested and proposed multiple proceedings to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to demonstrate that the events did not happen as they narrate in their request for coercive measures,” he stated.
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Likewise, he questioned the actions of the prosecuting body, stating that he had to go to court to obtain evidence that, according to him, had been previously requested by his defense.
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“We made requests for videos that were not provided to us to understand the coercive measure. They were delivered to us because we had to resort to the guarantee court to force them by resolution to hand them over, because the Public Prosecutor’s Office must investigate both in favor and against, and they have not done so,” he pointed out.
In turn, he maintained that the principle of objectivity has been violated during the investigation and affirmed that personal differences should not influence the development of a criminal proceeding.
“Personal issues that an investigator or person may have with someone under investigation should not affect the progress of the process,” he stated.
Upon concluding his speech, he reiterated his willingness to face the judicial process and defended his professional career.
“I reiterate that I am ready to face my legal process and that I am the most interested in clearing my image, my honor, and my reputation, which they have tarnished. Thank you very much,” he concluded.
The hearing is presided over by Magistrate Francisco Jerez Mena, president of the Second Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. Representing the Public Prosecutor’s Office are Wilson Camacho, Director General of Prosecution, along with prosecutors Andrés Mena and Eduardo Velázquez.
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The court must decide whether to maintain or modify the three-month pretrial detention measure imposed on the prosecutor by special investigating judge Isis Muñiz.
