Santo Domingo.– The main defendant in the alleged millionaire embezzlement at the National Health Insurance (Senasa), Santiago Hazim, along with six other defendants, requested the Court of Appeals of the National District a review of the coercive measure that keeps them in preventive detention.
The request was filed by Hazim’s defense, led by lawyer Miguel Valerio, who assured that the process in the first instance was tainted by alleged irregularities committed by the judge who heard the measure. According to the jurist, during the hearing the magistrate addressed religious and literary issues unrelated to the process, made fun of the accused and issued assessments that, in his understanding, anticipated a judgment of guilt without a trial on the merits having been held.You may be interested in: Cruz Jiminián will respond this Monday to fraud accusations in Senasa
“If this situation continues, an irregular action that violates fundamental guarantees would be endorsed,” the lawyer affirmed, insisting that the Court of Appeals must correct what happened in the court of first instance.
The Senasa case has generated widespread public interest due to the alleged embezzlement of funds allocated to the health system, while the appellate court is expected to set a date to hear the request for review of the coercive measure.
