Santo Domingo.– The former executive director of the National Health Insurance (SeNaSa), Santiago Hazim, left the courtroom this Thursday with his head down following the new postponement of the mandatory review of the coercive measure against him.
Upon his exit, journalists who were at the scene attempted to obtain statements from Hazim and asked him about his state of health, as well as about the reports suggesting that he might be seeking to reach an agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
However, the defendant did not answer any of the questions and continued on his way without offering statements to the media.
Questions arose after versions circulated in recent days regarding alleged approaches between some of the defendants in the SeNaSa case and the Public Ministry to reach potential agreements.
However, both the head of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), Mirna Ortiz, and Hazim’s lawyer, Miguel Valerio, denied this Wednesday that there is currently an agreement between the former director of SeNaSa and the prosecuting body.
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Ortiz maintained that the Public Prosecutor’s Office is in favor of agreements when conditions allow, but clarified that “at this moment there are no” agreements with Hazim.
For his part, Valerio stated that, although he is personally a person in favor of agreements, in this case, Hazim’s defense is not seeking any agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Hearing postponed again
Hazim’s departure occurred after the mandatory review hearing of the coercive measures for the defendants in the so-called Operation Cobra, an investigation related to an alleged corruption scheme at the National Health Insurance, was postponed once again.
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The next hearing was set for August 5th.
The purpose of the review is to determine whether the circumstances that gave rise to the coercive measures imposed on the defendants have changed.
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Hazim remains in pretrial detention as the proceedings against him advance for his alleged participation in a scheme that, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, caused a millionaire loss to SeNaSa.
So far, the former official has not offered statements regarding the versions of a possible agreement nor about the journalists’ questions regarding his state of health, remaining silent while he was being transported out of the court.
