Spanish
Santiago.- Judge Yerixa Cabral, from the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention of the judicial district of Santiago, recessed this Tuesday for 6:30 in the afternoon the hearing of coercive measure against 11 agents of the National Police accused of killing five men during an alleged exchange of shots in a shopping plaza in the La Barranquita sector, which occurred on September 10th.
The process, which has generated great expectation and a large security deployment, is taking place in the Court of Appeals of the Palace of Justice of Santiago, due to space limitations and the high public interest that the case has aroused.
You may be interested in: http://Se extiende por casi cuatro horas audiencia de coerción contra 11 policías acusados de matar a cinco hombres en La Barranquita
The defendants are: Major Álvaro Paredes Paniagua, Captain José Gómez Rodríguez, Second Lieutenant Domingo de los Santos Vargas, and Corporals Yohandy Encarnación, Geyser Francisco Álvarez Rodríguez and Adrián Miguel Villalona Pineda, assigned to the Department of Complex Crime Investigation. Also included are Major Hansel Michel Cuevas Carrasco, Sergeant Major Sócrates Fidel Féliz Féliz, Sergeant Hairo Mateo Morillo, Corporal César Augusto Martínez Trinidad and Private José Octavio Jiménez Peña, belonging to the Regional Sub-Directorate of Cibao Central Investigation. The Public Ministry, headed by the head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), Wilson Camacho, along with a prosecutor from Santiago, requested 18 months of preventive detention and that the case be declared complex, arguing that there is sufficient evidence to compromise the criminal responsibility of the agents. The police officers are charged with criminal association and voluntary homicide, charges that the Prosecutor's Office supports with documentary, testimonial, and expert evidence that, according to the prosecution, demonstrates the direct participation of the accused in the event. The lawyer Esteban Pérez, legal representative of the family of Vladimir Valerio Estévez, one of the victims, expressed his confidence that Magistrate Cabral will make a decision in accordance with the law, noting that “there is convincing evidence against the police officers”. This process has become one of the most followed court cases in Santiago, due to the magnitude of the event, the number of people involved, and the social pressure demanding justice for the victims of La Barranquita. After the recess, the judge will resume the hearing to decide on the coercive measure that will correspond to the accused.
