Dominguez Brito accused of playing politics

Abel Rodriguez del Orbe, defense lawyer for Felix Bautista, has described the decision by the Attorney General of the Republic Francisco Dominguez Brito to request the reversal of the sentence by the director of the Director of the Department for the Prevention of Administrative Corruption, Hotoniel Bonilla in favor of his client, as purely political. The DPCA head had ordered the penal investigations against the controversial senator and close aide of former President Leonel Fernandez to be shelved. The file was opened during the last election campaign because of several complaints filed by the PRD Campaign Command and the Dominican Alliance against Corruption (ADOCCO) as well as other entities and private individuals.

Rodriguez del Orbe, who served as the Attorney General of the Republic and Presidential Legal Advisor under Leonel Fernandez, said that Hotoniel Bonilla's decision was fair and with legal basis, because according to him the investigations that were carried out did not find elements of proof against his client and this was established by irrefutable documents that he says showed that the accusations against Senator Bautista were political in nature.

Bautista's lawyer expressed his disapproval of Dominguez Brito's decision, claiming that he has no legal basis to request the reversal of the order to shelve the penal investigation by the very Justice Department of which the Attorney General is a member.

The defense lawyer said, brusquely, that it was time to counteract the campaign of offenses and lies that have been launched against Felix Bautista from several quarters, only aimed at smearing his reputation, without providing the courts with any serious proof to back their charges.

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