The Public Ministry has ordered its prosecutors to carry out a nationwide survey of all those cases of citizens who died or were attacked after being held in police stations.

The instructions were given by the director of Persecution of the Public Ministry and deputy attorney, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, pretending that a job is done on every case, not just the last three that have come to light publicly.

“Prosecutors have been asked to carry out a national survey, to work on every case that has happened and not just the three cases that have come to light publicly,” a source revealed to Listin Diario.

Berenice Reynoso was instructed by the Attorney General of the Republic, Miriam Germán Brito, to coordinate the investigations of these cases that have dismayed the Dominican population. Furthermore, Germán Brito suggested to Berenice Reynoso that if any of the cases require it, she strengthen the teams of prosecutors that investigate each fact in the corresponding jurisdiction.

The appointment of Berenice Reynoso to investigate these cases occurs after the anger and dismay for the death of the young David de los Santos after being arrested in the National Police detachment of the Naco expansion. As a result, seven people were subjected to this case, including four law enforcement officers from the detachment.

The coercive measure request hearing is scheduled for next Friday by the Permanent Attention Court of the National District, which postponed it to allow the lawyers to prepare their means of defense.

Other cases of police aggression

Another case is the death of the young José Gregorio Custodio, who was violently detained by police officers and delivered to a hospital, where he died hours later. There has been no official report about the police officers who tortured him.

Also, the case of the young Richard Báez (the Hairdresser), 28, who died in a hospital center after being assaulted by National Police agents in the Cienfuegos detachment in the Santiago Oeste municipal district. In the case of De los Santos and Custodio, protests have been registered in San José de Ocoa and the National District, respectively. On Saturday, there was a protest march in San José de Ocoa; in the Plaza de la Bandera, protesters demanded justice for David de los Santos.

Implicated in the case of David de los Santos

Among the defendants are those who shared the cell with David in the Naco police station: Santiago Mateo Victoriano, Michael Pérez Ramos and Jean Carlos Martínez Peña. The agents: Captain Domingo Alberto Rodríguez Rodríguez, Second Lieutenant Germán García de la Cruz, Private San Manuel González García and/or Private Sari Manuel González and Corporal Alfonso Decena Hernández.