Dominican sectors seek to quell scandal, but society smells rot

Santo Domingo.- The uproar over the charges and counter charges pitting National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso against Instruction judge Margarita Cristo during last Friday’s hearing could subside if several sectors succeed in their efforts to quell the scandal.

The row stems from the embezzlement and money laundering case against former Public Works minister Víctor Díaz Rúa, a close collaborator of former president Leonel Fernandez.

During a visit to the Ciudad Nueva courthouse Monday morning several lawyers headed by their guild president José Diego García, called the row "embarrassing," and sought to “mediate” in the incident that led Cristo to file a charge of contempt against Reynoso.

But the biggest surprise in the scandal also came Monday morning when Government Ethics Commissioner Marino V. (Vincho) Castillo sided with the judge. “The Prosecutor (Reynoso) should’ve chosen another path to state her case; I think she overstepped her position.”

Civil society however smells a can of worms, according to quotes by newspaper Hoy of citizens in a video: “This won’t go away as prosecutor Reynoso has lodged serious charges (against Cristo) that must be investigated,” said Trajano Vidal Potentini, president of the Justice and Transparency Foundation (FJT).

For Institutionalism and Justice Foundation (Finjus) executive vice president Servio Tulio Castaños Guzman, it’s suspicious that the Instruction Judge was assigned Diaz Rua’s case “without any contest," as judicial procedures require.