Santo Domingo.- The criminal lawyer Amadeo Peralta considers that the declarations of the commissioner of the reform of the Police, José Vila del Castillo, on the wide and generalized internal corruption in the body of order, are not in violation of any criminal law in the Dominican Republic. What’s more, he assures that Vila “limited himself to telling the truth about what has happened historically in this institution of order.”
Peralta assures that the statements made by Vila regarding “internal, institutional and systemic corruption” in the police institution are not grounds for defamation and insults personally against anyone because he spoke in a generic way without referring to any specific person. “Any attempt to bring Commissioner José Vila to justice would simply be a failed attempt,” he said.
In this sense, the criminal lawyer opined that the person in charge of the police reform “did not personally point to any former police chief and, consequently, no matter how hard they try to find a legal situation, there is no case there” and points out that “he did not insult anyone in a specific or personal way, but simply generalized”, which he understands are not grounds for criminal lawsuits.
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Likewise, he maintains that Vila’s words are a true reflection of “what happens within this historic institution and that, after all, everyone knows that this is recurring there.” He adds that José Villa limited himself to telling the truth and “he who tells the truth does not slander. In short, the entire country knows that this corresponds to reality from the legal field”.
On the statements of the commissioner that generated the debate
“I say it so clearly: a historical, systematic corruption, carried from one director to another, driven from the head, forcing the lowest rank to belong to it,” said Vila del Castillo when participating as a speaker at the international seminar on Citizen Security , in the Pedro Mir Library, of the UASD.
“All those who did not belong to the system were separated, persecuted or sent to small offices,” he said.
Del Castillo said that in the process they have fought against what he called “the white elephant and the scourge of corruption” to clean up the National Police.
He considered that in 2022 it has been the first time that, endorsed by President Luis Abinader, directed by the Interior and Police and with the consensus of the Police, all promotions were clean and transparent.
He referred to the progress made in the police reform in the eight months of implementation, with improvements in financial management, personnel auditing, dignity for agents, and modernization at all levels of infrastructure and police operations.
