Dominican Republic’s top prosecutor says FBI interrogations ‘routine’

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Monday said the interrogations by FBI agents investigating the case of U.S. senator Bob Menendez and eye doctor Solomon Melgen form part of a collaborative process which adheres to routine mechanisms.

The top prosecutor’s statement comes amid a heated confrontation with Presidency Ethics Commission president Marino V. Castillo, who accuses Dominguez of biased prosecution against former president Leonel Fernandez and several of his close collaborators.

Dominguez said the country collaborates with international organizations on a daily basis, within parameters established by law. "One thing is a defendant accused here and one accused there, one thing is an interrogation of a suspect here, and nothing is pre-investigative process for another type of decision."

He said the country has signed agreements with various nations, where everything must be done in accordance with the procedure, and in addition to the FBI, includes the DEA, and Interpol.

"I point to the example of the Figueroa case, DEA agents have been working and are working and parameters are complied with," the official said, in reference to jailed Puerto Rican drug baron Jose A. Figueroa Agosto.

Dominguez added that the prosecutor in charge of the investigation knows the details of the case.

“What do I want to say with this? If an investigation is opened in the United States, it’s they who must provide the background and content of the details, the Dominican Republic is limited to collaboration that international standards call for."