House arrest lifted for Danilo Medina’s sister and Fernando Rosa

Santo Domingo.- The Second Chamber of the Court of Appeal in the National District has ordered the end of house arrest for former officials Carmen Magaly Medina Sánchez and Fernando Rosa Rosa, both accused in the alleged administrative corruption network known as Antipulpo. This network is accused of defrauding the State of more than 5 billion pesos.

The judges of the Court, Luis Omar Jiménez, Teófilo Andújar, and Delio Germán, decided to lift the house arrest on Thursday afternoon.

In justifying their ruling, the president of the Second Chamber of the Court of Appeal, Luis Omar Jiménez, considered the house arrest of the appellants to be unreasonable, as it effectively amounted to preventive detention. Jiménez noted that the law specifies that coercive measures should not amount to pre-trial detention.

Carmen Magaly Medina Sánchez and Fernando Rosa Rosa had been under house arrest since December 2020 and August 2022, respectively. The court maintained the prohibition on them leaving the country.

Carmen Magalys Medina Sánchez swore before the Court of Appeal that she would not flee from the process and that, once fully free, she would continue attending hearings because “the innocent do not flee.” She expressed her interest in proving her innocence and clearing her family’s honor.

The Antipulpo case revolves around allegations that a network of individuals irregularly benefited from contracts awarded to companies associated with Alexis Medina Sánchez, the brother of former President Danilo Medina, during his two terms in office.