NewsWhore
07-25-2007, 06:40 PM
Former National District prosecutor Guillermo Moreno, interviewed on Matinal 5 TV program, speculated that the governmental Department for the Prevention of Corruption (Depreco) was not created to prevent and prosecute corruption in government, but rather to prevent and control any efforts against corruption. Moreno said that 10 years ago, when the department was created during President Leonel Fernandez's first administration, its aim was to relieve the district prosecutor of his role of prosecuting corruption and make this a political decision.
He explained that prior to the department's creation, the district prosecutor was free to investigate and prosecute corruption, which could be interpreted as risky in case a government was not willing to pursue a case, and a party gave priority to its political alliances above morality. Moreno described Depreco as a mechanism to control any efforts to fight corruption. "The best proof of this is the results," he commented. "Has Depreco been of any use in its 10 years?" he wondered.
"What we have seen is that the department is a bottleneck where traditionally hundreds of stagnant cases are waiting for a signal from the President to follow their course.
El Caribe newspaper comments that Moreno's statements have come at a time when Depreco, now known as the Department for Prosecution of Administrative Corruption, is accused of not prosecuting corruption, and the judicial system is accused of complacency because of the way in which corruption suspects are constantly discharged.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
He explained that prior to the department's creation, the district prosecutor was free to investigate and prosecute corruption, which could be interpreted as risky in case a government was not willing to pursue a case, and a party gave priority to its political alliances above morality. Moreno described Depreco as a mechanism to control any efforts to fight corruption. "The best proof of this is the results," he commented. "Has Depreco been of any use in its 10 years?" he wondered.
"What we have seen is that the department is a bottleneck where traditionally hundreds of stagnant cases are waiting for a signal from the President to follow their course.
El Caribe newspaper comments that Moreno's statements have come at a time when Depreco, now known as the Department for Prosecution of Administrative Corruption, is accused of not prosecuting corruption, and the judicial system is accused of complacency because of the way in which corruption suspects are constantly discharged.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)