The Ñetas threatened to kill those who vote for Sanders

According to lawyer Manny Suarez, they made deals "with politicians in exchange for benefits that they do not deserve and even financial contributions".



by Irizarry Femmy Alvarez

04/06/2016 | 5:09 pm



The Puerto Rican Bernie Sanders Committee will present tomorrow a complaint to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Washington, after reporting that has reliable information that the Los Ñetas (Inmate Rights Association) gang demanded that the inmates vote for the Democratic frontrunner for the White House, Hillary Clinton, and not his rival Sanders.



Lawyer Manny Suarez told Primera Hora that are also requesting the intervention of the Department of Justice to join the investigation, after learning "that the criminal Los Ñeta organization instructed all its followers in prisons that they had to vote for Hillary Clinton."



Inmates had the right to vote early yesterday.



Suarez, even though he indicated that this was not their problem, also reported that the prison gang "instructed that (the prisoners) had to vote for the [PR local] New Progressive Party and no one could vote for the [PR local] Popular Democratic Party."



When asked by this newspaper, the lawyer said that he corroborated these confidential reports with appropriate law enforcement agents and recalled that he, as a former prosecutor has good friends in the system and knows how things move in prisons.



Referring to los Ñeta, he argued that "this is the organization that just two months ago was charged with organized crime in prisons in Puerto Rico and now those people who are in federal prison ... are still in communication -through mobile phones- with Loa Ñetas in state prisons and continue giving instructions. "



On May 11, the head of the federal prosecutors on the island, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez announced that 50 arrest warrants were issued against members of Los Ñeta who were charged with violation of the RICO Act, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and marijuana, and murder.



"The Ñetas that do not vote for Hillary do so at risk of the death penalty, because that's how they work, and the federal charges they pressed just two months ago is proof that this is how it works in prisons in Puerto Rico, " argued the lawyer.



He said Los Ñeta "do business with politicians in exchange for benefits that are not theirs and even financial contributions, because much money runs in prisons and somehow that money has to come out, and it comes out with politicians who are also lawyers."



Another allegation that Suarez presented as part of the request for injuction is that last Thursday "is surprisingly there were early voting presidential primary elections held for the Puerto Rico Police without telling us."



"We will file a legal appeal in the Federal Court requesting the annulment of all those ballots. We were never told ahead of time about them and each of these ballots is void because it doesn't have our signature. In addition to that, there are other government officials who also voted in advance and I understand they are the ones who will be on duty on Sunday, "he said.



But it doesn't stop there. It was also alleged in the legal action that today the State Election Commission (CEE) "have not given us certifications" for officials [poll workers] who must be present in the voting.



Typically an official from each of the parties is submitted. But the rules (law) specifically states that what each party may have is an observer. So now, the CEE claims the law "does not allow official poll workers but merely observers," he alleged.



An official is one who can participate, vote, challenge and protest, but as an observer one can not do anything, just observe.



"If that [poll worker] certification is not given we will not trust anyone, and I'd we have to do it, we will request the cancellation of the entire Democratic primary in Federal court. And if that costs a pretty penny to the CEE, well, they can start begging on street corners, "he said.



Similarly, the lawyer said there was a problem with the booths. "The vote is not secret and we are also fighting for them to give us indelible ink, because we are not allowed to identify if people voted more than once."



He argued that the excuse they give is that there is no money. "But there was a disbursement for presidential primaries and I want to know where that money is. But there are no booths for secret ballot and no indelible ink is an invitation to massive fraud. "



Meanwhile, Ernesto Curiel, deputy electoral commissioner for the Bernie Sanders Campaign in Puerto Rico, said that for example, on Thursday in Bayamón prison (302) "25 inmates appeared to vote in the Democratic primary; of those 25 inmates inmates who voted in open ballot (in prisons there were no electronic counting machines) ... and see if the [Los Ñeta] instruction was clear, that of those 25, 22 were for Hillarry and 3 Sanders."



He clarified that those three votes by Sanders could be "part of the agreement and for cover, so they said, not everyone (can vote for Hillary) because then you will be obvious."



Curiel said that when you compare the voting profile of prisons against the general population "and see a completely different behavior, I have to conclude that something happened."



Meanwhile, Suarez reported that Kenneth McClintock, a member of the Democratic National Committee in Puerto Rico, yesterday, at 8:30 am, announced through a tweet that the inmates were voting for Hillary.



"We still were opening polls in prisons" and he was already making that announcement, he said.



The lawyer warned all those who are "in that fraud that these are not local elections, they are Presidential elections. This is a Federal offense and I put on notice to all those people who are on that fraud that we will not have mercy, and they should not forget that Bernie Sanders remains a senator and from that position can do much to ensure that what is happening here, this fraud ... that the persons involved be punished. "



Finally, Suarez said he had reached an agreement with the representative of the PNP in the Absentee Vote Administrative Board (JAVA), Vilma Rosado, to deliver a list of observers who would work in the election, but then she did not want to follow up on that agreement. Although Rosado said that she had sent the list with the names of the observers to the Bernie Sanders Puerto Rican Committee, Suarez said he could confirm that this was not correct.



He argued that after several efforts, they managed to have observers at the early voting inmate polls.



"We managed to avoid the sabotage strategy. But we could have had our observers yesterday that we need to go to court, "he said.

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