Drug plant caught on tape; Protest demands community leader freed

Santo Domingo.- Representatives of the grassroots movements The Multitude, Rebel, We the People, Citizens in National Action and the Falpo on Monday gathered in front of the Office of the Prosecutor to demand the release of community leader Juan Comprés (Guanchy).

Spokesman Félix Luna urged Justice minister Jean Rodríguez to desist from incarcerating Compres, leader of the groups The Pilgrims and the Green March in Moca, Espaillat province (central).

He said Comprés has been detained since last week under the false allegation of drug possession, for which he’s expected to be arraigned at 2pm today.

“The plot that Guanchy Comprés has been subject to is a political aberration of incalculable transcendence, of which we hold president Danilo Medina as head of the Police and the military responsible,” he said.

They said the police placed drugs in Compres’ car, but was caught on camera whose video was posted on the Web. “It constitutes a crime that seeks to violate the citizen’s right to political and individual freedom, being a major institutional and political setback for the country.”

“We also expect that the police officers who acted in the proceeding, led by Colonel Nelson Valenzuela, be brought to justice for practices intended to incriminate the protest.”