Sentence to Alexis Medina: Milestone against corruption or just another media case?

Santo Domingo.- The seven-year prison sentence against Alexis Medina Sánchez, brother of former President Danilo Medina, marks only the beginning of a much broader process. Experts warn that what will be decisive will not only be the sentence, but how the appeals are resolved and what signals this case sends about the real effectiveness of the judicial system against corruption. For criminal lawyer Valentín Peña, the real test of the case will be played out in the Court of Appeal, where the judges will have the power to confirm, modify, or even reverse the sentence.

“Let's assume these people are really guilty, which we don't know because they have a conviction that is not final; that is, they do not have the authority of the definitively and irrevocably judged thing”, explained Peña.

Sentence to Alexis Medina: Milestone against corruption or just another media case? | De Último Minuto English
Valentín Peña, abogado penalista.

The Public Prosecutor's Office's Debt

Beyond the ruling against Medina, the criminal lawyer points out that the Public Ministry faces a greater challenge, dozens of corruption files still unopened, which raises doubts about the coherence of the anti-corruption discourse. “They have lied to us, they have been telling us that what is sought with these cases is to proscribe corruption. However, the Public Ministry has approximately two hundred and something corruption cases, at least, pointed out as such from the current government that have not been opened,” recalled Peña.

This situation, the jurist warns, fuels the perception that justice in matters of corruption remains selective and partial, and that high-profile cases receive different treatment than ordinary files. Of more than 21 people linked, only seven were convicted, while the rest were acquitted.

Another critical point is the citizens' perception of the magnitude of the sanctions. For Peña, a part of the population considers that the penalties imposed do not reflect the real damage caused by the acts of corruption.
“First, it sends the idea that the penalties, for example, do not meet the expectations of society. A part of society could see it that way,” the jurist pointed out. With the sentence already issued, the case enters a critical stage. The Court of Appeals will evaluate the sanction and the responsibility of the convicted, with the possibility of reducing sentences, acquitting defendants, or ordering a new trial if procedural irregularities are found. Later, the Supreme Court of Justice could intervene through an appeal for cassation, finally defining the fate of the file. This scenario keeps open the question of whether the case of Alexis Medina will be remembered as a real milestone in the fight against corruption or as another media episode that, despite the initial noise, ends up reinforcing the perception of impunity.

Real milestone or media episode?

Beyond the legal aspects, the great unknown remains in the social and political arena. The ruling against Alexis Medina may consolidate as a historic precedent in the fight against corruption or be recorded as another media episode that failed to transform the perception of impunity that persists in large sectors of the population. What happens in the coming months will be decisive for citizens' trust in the justice system. If the courts uphold the ruling and strengthen it with solid arguments, the case could be remembered as a turning point. But if it crumbles on appeal, it will reinforce the idea that the major corruption trials in the Dominican Republic end up being more spectacle than consequence.

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