Coercion of police officers accused in the La Barranquita and Camacho massacre

After the imposition of coercive measures to the eleven police officers involved in the death of five men in a shopping plaza in La Barranquita, the deputy attorney general Wilson Camacho He valued the court’s decision and reiterated the Public Ministry’s commitment to the search for justice.

“He court has recognized the seriousness of the events. From the beginning we were committed to this process and now it is time that justice be done for the five lives that were lost,” said Camacho as he left the hearing that lasted more than six hours.

The Judicial Office of Permanent Care Services of Santiago accepted the request of the Public Ministry and issued preventive detention against four of the accused agents, while imposing financial guaranteeexit impediment and periodic presentation to the other seven.

Camacho, head of the General Directorate of Prosecution of the Public Ministry, highlighted that the case has been declared complex, which will allow the time for the investigation to be extended. “This is not only a judicial process, it is also an opportunity to learn as a society and ensure that events of this nature are not repeated,” he said.

During the hearing, the Public Ministry presented elements that point to an alleged excessive use of force by the agents, as well as cover-up attempts after the fact, including the theft of recording devices and mobile phones.

Camacho was accompanied by the prosecutors of Santiago, Quirsa Abreu Peña and Yeny Liranzoas well as by the court attorney Hector Garcia.

The case, which has generated extensive media attention and citizen concern, involves the death of five people at the hands of agents of the National Police, and has been described by the Attorney General’s Office as a fact of “high institutional severity“.

Coercion and accused

The Judicial Office of Permanent Care of Santiago imposed this Tuesday three months of preventive detention to four agents of the National Police and issued less severe measures against the other seven for their alleged involvement in the shooting death of five men during a police operation in the La Barranquita sector, southwest of the city.

To the Special Operations Center, in ManoguayaboSanto Domingo Oeste municipality, the private José Octavio Jiménez Peñato the sergeant major Socrates Fidel Happy HappySergeant Hairo Mateo Morillo and Corporal Yohandy Encarnación.

The payment of a financial guarantee of one million pesos, through an insurance company, impediment to leaving of the country and periodic presentation He placed majors Álvaro Paredes Paniagua and Hansel Michel Cuevas Carrasco, captain José Ignacio Gómez Rodríguez, second lieutenant Domingo de Los Santos Vargas, corporals Geyser Francisco Álvarez Rodríguez and César Augusto Martínez Trinidad and private Adrián Miguel Villalona Pineda.