The Puerto Rico Office of Government Ethics (OEG) decided this Thursday not to accept the investigation request against the Secretary of the Department of Justice, Domingo Emanuelli Hernández, presented by César Vázquez Muñiz, president of the Dignity Project Party.
“After an exhaustive evaluation, we did not find sufficient grounds to initiate an investigation,” OEG Deputy Executive Director Aniano Rivera Torres said in written statements.
The request for an investigation stemmed from comments that Emanuelli Hernández made during a public hearing on Senate Bill 495 in May. Vázquez Muñiz maintained that the words of the Secretary of Justice were discriminatory and lacked professionalism and impartiality.
“What would be missing is to put a hood on the women so that their faces cannot be seen and a chastity belt,” he said at a public hearing.
However, the evaluation carried out by Nimia Salabarría Belardo, Assistant Director of the OEG’s Investigations and Administrative Prosecution Area, and Karla Vázquez Durán, a lawyer from the same office, found no evidence that Emanuelli Hernández had obtained a personal benefit from her expressions. , an essential element to configure an ethical violation according to the Organic Law of the OEG.
Regarding the allegation that the expressions of the Secretary of Justice could call into question the impartiality and integrity of the government function, Salabarría Belardo explained that the circumstances and the context in which they were made are not enough to constitute a violation.
“It is necessary to emphasize that not any conduct that appears to represent an ethical conflict should be considered a punishable offense,” concluded Salabarría Belardo.
Therefore, the OEG decided not to accept the request for an investigation against Emanuelli Hernández, as confirmed by the deputy executive director of the office.
