Santo Domingo.- Deputy Charlie Mariotti Paz asserted that the dismissal order issued in the Calamar case in favor of former ministers Gonzalo Castillo and José Ramón Peralta constitutes a vindication for the former officials of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) who were subjected to judicial proceedings.
The statements were offered after Judge Altagracia Ramírez, of the Fourth Instruction Court of the National District, issued a no-grounds order for Castillo and Peralta, as well as for other defendants in the so-called Calamar case.
“Definitely, this dismissal order vindicates the PLD officials”, expressed Mariotti Paz, maintaining that the Public Prosecutor’s Office failed to prove criminal liability against the accused during the process.
The legislator described the file as “unnecessary” and stated that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the accusations made by the prosecuting body.
We recommend reading: Pujols on U.S. ambassador’s statements: “We are not going to politicize her words”
Mariotti Paz also considered that the judicial decision restores the honor of the officials involved and compared the case with other proceedings that, according to him, concluded with similar decisions in favor of PLD leaders.
More Read
Judge Ramírez accepted the motions and arguments raised by the defendants’ counsel, concluding that the evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office was insufficient to justify the opening of a full trial.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office accused the group of alleged crimes of criminal association, embezzlement, collusion of officials, forgery of documents, bribery, money laundering, and illicit campaign financing, charges that were rejected by the judge when issuing her decision.
The resolution will be appealed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office through the mechanisms established in the Dominican criminal procedural legislation.
