Santo Domingo.- Jobanny Mercado, a messenger for the company Moto Préstamos Los Ríos, reported that he was abusively detained without committing any offense, while carrying out his duties, by direct order of prosecutor José Miguel Mejía de la Cruz.
The arrest, which occurred under unclear circumstances, worries the messenger about the procedure and the lack of official information regarding the charges. But above all because the police officers who arrested him did not have a warrant from the prosecutor’s office.
According to the employee, he voluntarily went to the Prosecutor’s Office to request a service, but never had direct contact with the prosecutor.
“Él me está deteniendo, pero quien debe explicar la razón de mi detención es el fiscal. Cuando fui a la Fiscalía, fui a solicitar un servicio. El fiscal no quiso salir; simplemente mandó decir que esperara allí. Esperé durante un buen rato, luego me informaron que estaba almorzando, así que seguí esperando, pero nunca salió”,
explicó.
According to a video, the police officers who carried out the arrest did not know the reason for the detention. “One of them just said: ‘We have the right to hold them for 48 hours for investigation purposes, so don’t refuse,'” added one of the police officers who were making the arrest.
During his transfer, Jobanny Mercado expressed his bewilderment at the situation. “I haven’t argued with anyone. The prosecutor is sending me to jail. The question is from the supervisor: under what charge are they detaining me? They told me it was for an investigation. Now they released me. So, the investigations must be clear. They detained me one or two days ago with that argument.”
The Public Ministry has not offered a statement on the incident nor has it clarified the reasons why Mercado was detained and subsequently released without charges.
