Rebuke of corrupt officials spreads in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo.- The civic movement Citizen Participation (PC) and the think tank Centro Juan XXIII on Monday asked a the Constitutional Court (TC) to declare paragraph 3 of article 85(1) in compliance with the Constitution, which allows an individual citizen to file charges of corruption against government officials.

The request comes in the heels of efforts to drop the money laundering and embezzlement case against former Public Works minister Víctor Díaz Rúa, a close collaborator of former president Leonel Fernandez.

PC Director Sonia Díaz and Centro Juan XXIII executive Jorge Aguayo Saladin file the request, and rebuked what they affirm is widespread impunity when the rights of citizens are denied to protect former officials from prosecution.

The move by the two organizations is the latest in a wave of rebuke against efforts to place restrictions on the Constitutional right to file complaints against government officials.