Supreme Court upholds ruling clearing embattled senator

Santo Domingo.- The Supreme Court’s 2nd Penal Chamber on Monday upheld a lower court ruling that dropped the embezzlement charges against embattled Senator Félix Bautista, relating to alleged bribery of Haiti government officials.

In their 41-page decision, Justices Miriam Germán, Frank Soto and Hiroito Reyes ruled against an appeal filed by the Citizens Anti-corruption Movement.

"The prosecutor’s office made the relevant inquiries in this process, so there’s another ruling which upholds the special prosecutor’s decision that examined the appeal and came to the correct appreciation that the necessary inquiries hadn’t proven the allegedly illicit actions," the ruling says.

The lawmaker for San Juan de la Maguana, one of former president Leonel Fernandez’s closest collaborators, has been charged several times without convictions thus far.