Francisco Ortega, visibly exhausted. Photo elnuevodiario.com.do
Santo Domingo.- Supreme Court Francisco Ortega will hand down his ruling on the arraignment for the individuals indicted for taking bribes in the Odebrecht case at 4pm today Wed.
The special investigation judge announced the ruling at 12:52 p.m., after a marathon hearing of nearly13 hours, in which the prosecution and the defense attorneys presented their opening statements.
At 11:15 p.m., Ortega allowed the defendants three minutes each to state their argument which their lawyers had possibly omitted.
After the hearing in the Supreme Court, 10 of the 13 defendants who are in detention were returned to the jail in the Ciudad Nueva courthouse, escorted by dozens of police officers.
Angel Rondón, Temístocles Montás, Ruddy González, Víctor Díaz Rúa, Radhamés Segura, Conrado Pittaluga, Andrés Bautista, César Sánchez, Roberto Rodríguez and Máximo D ‘Oleo.
The other three, senators Julio César Valentín and Tommy Galán, as well as deputy Alfredo Pacheco are under parliamentary immunity.