Santo Domingo.-Between tears, slogans and banners demanding justice, relatives of the victims of the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub gathered in the vicinity of the Ciudad Nueva Courthouse, where the judicial process against the owners of the establishment, Antonio and Maribel Espaillat, was heard.
Carrying messages such as “jail for murderers,” citizens dressed in black and white expressed their indignation as the defendants left the court, at which point shouts of “murderers, murderers!” were heard.
Since the early hours of yesterday morning, the area remained heavily guarded by National Police agents to preserve order during the hearing.
Visibly affected, Serafín de Jesús and Rómula Martínez, parents of María Eliana de Jesús, 37 years old, the only daughter of the couple and one of the 236 fatal victims of the collapse of the roof of the nightclub, expressed their frustration after the suspension of the process.
“There is no justice in this country, those who have money abuse those who do not have them,” said Serafín de Jesús, while his wife, with a broken voice, said she felt helpless when she saw the accused. “It makes me angry to see him there with his very clean face looking at us,” he said.
A few hours after the preliminary hearing for the Jet Set Club tragedy began, Wilton Tejeda, father of one of the fatal victims, demanded justice and questioned the financial agreements reached by some survivors and relatives with the owners of the establishment.
Prior to the start of the judicial process, Tejeda described the conditions in which the nightclub operated as serious structural irresponsibility, pointing out that the roof of the premises was overloaded with multiple layers of cement, water tanks and heavy equipment without proper technical guarantees.
At the judicial level, the judge of the First Investigative Court of the National District, Raymundo Mejía, granted a period of 10 days to the Public Ministry to formally notify the accusation to the victims’ lawyers and the complainants.
Likewise, it granted an additional 30 days to the victims’ defense to prepare and file their writings, once the accusation was received.
The magistrate also set for January 30 the hearing of the counter-examination requested by the defense of the accused, who face charges of involuntary manslaughter to the detriment of 236 deceased people, as well as blows and aggravated injuries received by 89 people, as a result of the collapse that occurred on April 8.
Imputations
– Application
The Public Ministry charges the Espaillat brothers with charges of involuntary manslaughter, as well as involuntary beatings and injuries, to the detriment of the victims of the tragedy, and requested that the case be sent to a substantive trial.
