RETIRED GENERAL GETS 30 YEARS FOR ORLANDO MARTINEZ'S MURDER

SANTO DOMINGO, (Dominican Today), December 21, 2007 -- The Dominican Supreme Court sentenced retired general Joaquin Antonio Pou Castro to 30 years in prison, after finding him guilty of being the coauthor of the murder 32 years ago of the journalist Orlando Martinez.

The court's ruling increasing the time in prison came after hearing the appeal filed by the victim's brothers Nilson and Sergio Augusto Martinez Howley, against the San Pedro Appellate Court Penal Chamber's 20 year sentence handed down on May 16.

The high court also ruled that the evidence presented against the retired military are tantamount to murder of the columnist of the newspaper El Nacional, as coauthor and not as an accomplice, a more serious fact which must be sanctioned with 30 years in prison.

In a previous hearing, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of 30 years in prison against the ex corporal Mariano Cabrera Durán and the civilian Rafael Alfredo Lluberes Ricart (Lluberito).