SANTO DOMINGO.- The Public Ministry's request for coercive measures against Frenchman Georges Antoine Thevenet states that he used approximately 480 aluminum phosphide capsules to fumigate the ninth floor of an apartment tower in the Piantini sector of the National District, where a woman and her two-month-old baby died.
The prosecutors in the case indicate that the fumigation process began at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, January 19, and that the man placed that amount of the brand “Quickphos 56 FT 480 Tablets”, which “is a highly toxic product for humans, classification I for its LD50 (Lethal dose at 50%)”.
The document explains that Thevenet first measured and verified the square meters of construction of the area to be fumigated together with Mrs. Andrea Sofía Pimentel Cheda, resident in the apartment, indicating to her that once the product was placed, the windows should be kept closed.
The Frenchman also indicated, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, that the product became inactive after 48 to 72 hours and that it left "a dust that must be cleaned with the windows closed.".
Prosecutors allege that Thevenet fumigated without notifying any of the other residents in the tower, “in blatant violation of the Environmental Technical Regulation for the handling of pesticides and their waste in agricultural, livestock, forestry and urban pest control activities.”.
The court has scheduled the hearing for the coercive measure against the accused, who is being held in the preventive jail of the Palace of Justice of Ciudad Nueva, for tomorrow, Thursday, at 9:00 a.m.
The request was filed by prosecutor Luis Tavares Peña, from the Department of Investigation of Crimes and Offenses Against Persons, and the prosecutor of the National District, Rosalba Ramos Castillo, hours before the 48-hour deadline established by the Constitution expired.
The Public Ministry has given the present act the legal classification of violation of article 319 of the Dominican Penal Code; art. 122 of Law No. 52-01 General Health, article 97, 175 numerals 6 and 176 General Environmental Law 64-00.
Fugitive
In the request for coercive measures against the Frenchman, the Public Prosecutor's Office describes as "fugitive" Karina Baussan, owner of apartment 901, on the 9th floor, of the Da Silva 3 tower, located in the Piantini sector, National District, who is accused of having hired Thevenet "knowing" that "he is not a professional fumigator".
