Spanish
Santo Domingo,.- The Dominican Republic Bar Association (CARD) expressed its support for the independence and autonomy with which judges must act, in the face of what it called a wave of questioning and pressure that have arisen regarding the actions of magistrate Fátima Veloz, who knew the coercion measure to the owners of the collapsed Jet Set nightclub.
This case, which has caused intense social shock due to the tragic death of 236 people, has unleashed a wave of media reactions, citizen claims, and pronouncements from the Public Ministry and the victims' lawyers, which according to the CARD has exceeded the limits of institutional respect and due process of law.You may be interested in: Jet Set, an omission disguised as involuntary manslaughter
Magistrate Fátima Veloz, in the exercise of her role as a judicial authority, issued a coercive measure in accordance with the principles of Dominican criminal and criminal procedure law, protected by her constitutional and legal authority, which measure, although different from pre-trial detention, does not equate to an unpunished decision, nor does it represent the closure of the process, the organization said in a note. Judge Veloz imposed last Thursday a bail of 50 million pesos, periodic presentation, and a ban on leaving the country on the owner of Jet Set, Antonio Espaillat, as well as his sister Maribel, accused by the Public Ministry of involuntary manslaughter, and requested 18 months of prison for the former and house arrest for the latter, as coercive measures. "This measure should not be interpreted as an early absolution or a denial of justice, but as an action based on legal criteria, the process is just beginning, and it will be in that procedural course where the evidence must be presented and the rights of both the victims and the accused must be exercised," said the CARD. The Bar Association described the Public Prosecutor's request to impose 18 months of pre-trial detention on the accused as legally "disproportionate", in a case where, according to current regulations and unless proven aggravating circumstances are presented, the eventual sentence could range from three months to two years. "We cannot allow the justice system to be distorted by decisions that seem to respond more to popular clamor than to legal reason," he considered. On the other hand, the CARD urged the National Congress to urgently undertake a structural reform of the Dominican Penal Code, so that the country has a modern legal framework consistent with the current social reality. The institution acknowledged the pain of the affected families and the "legitimate" indignation of the citizenry, but reiterated that justice cannot act motivated by emotions. "We know that this tragedy has shocked the nation, that it has touched sensitive nerves of a society fed up with violence. But it is precisely in these moments when we must be more firm in defending the institutionality and understand that there is no Justice possible outside the law," affirmed the CARD.
