FBI RESENTIDOS SOCIALES?

Un magistrado de Estados Unidos ordenó la detención de los sospechosos sin derecho a fianza el lunes en las Islas Vírgenes estadounidenses, donde fueron arrestados el 20 de marzo cuando el crucero de la compañía Norwegian Dawn llegó al puerto.

Entre los sospechosos se encuentra el hijo de Rodolfo Parker Soto, diputado en El Salvador por el Partido Demócrata Cristiano.

Parker Soto ofreció pagar 100.000 dólares en efectivo como fianza y garantizar la presencia de su hijo Andrew Parker Wein, de 22 años, en todos los procesos judiciales del caso. Al parecer, Parker Wein ya pagó su fianza y salió de prisión.

Un portavoz del Partido Demócrata Cristiano dijo que Parker Soto se encontraba fuera del país y no era posible que hiciera ningún comentario.

Fueron arrestados también Alexander Nabih Kanawati, de 22 años, y Javier Miguel Westerhausen de 26.

Los tres hombres presuntamente llevaron a la pareja dentro de un camarote el 16 de marzo, los alcoholizaron y los obligaron a tener relaciones sexuales mientras les tomaban fotografías, de acuerdo con una declaración jurada difundida por el FBI.

Uno de los acusados presuntamente agarró a la muchacha de 16 años, y su compañero de 17 lo acusó de tratar de violarla. Los menores avisaron a sus padres, quienes alertaron a los encargados de seguridad en el crucero.

Los hombres enfrentan cargos de agresión sin agravantes así como intento de violación.

En la audiencia del lunes el magistrado Geoffrey Barnard dijo que los hombres representaban un riesgo en caso de vuelo y ordenó mantenerlos bajo la custodia de la policía judicial estadounidense hasta su próxima cita en la corte. Hasta ahora no se ha fijado la fecha para ésta.

By JOSEPH TSIDULKO
Wednesday, April 2nd 2008

ST. THOMAS - A magistrate judge has denied bail to the three Salvadoran men suspected of sexually tormenting two teenagers aboard a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, ruling the defendants are flight risks because they are citizens of a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Magistrate Judge Geoffrey Barnard ordered the defendants - 22-year-old Alexander Nabih Kanawati, 22-year-old Andrew Parker Wein and 26-year-old Javier Miguel Westerhausen - remain in jail while awaiting trial on charges of assault with intent to commit rape and simple assault.

The three men have been accused of forcing a 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl to have sex in front of them on the high seas. The teens said the three took pictures, and Westerhausen and Kanawati both sexually touched the girl, soon after Norwegian's Dawn left the British Virgin Islands on March 16.

The case has generated interest in El Salvador and among Salvadoran immigrants living in America because the three defendants come from prominent families.

Wein's father, Rodolfo Antonio Parker Soto, is a prominent lawyer and vice president of El Salvador's legislative assembly who once ran for president as leader of the Christian Democratic Party.

On March 26, Soto said he would put up $100,000 in cash as a bail bond and take personal responsibility for ensuring that his son appeared in the Virgin Islands for every court proceeding, if Barnard allowed his son to return to El Salvador and continue his studies in law school.

On behalf of Westerhausen, a relative who owns a large construction company in Puerto Rico said he would act as a third-party custodian. Jose Perez told Barnard he would post any bail necessary and employ Westerhausen while the 26-year-old awaited trial.

At the same hearing, the mother and sister of Kanawati implored Barnard to release the 22-year-old, who holds U.S. citizenship, on an unsecured bond.

In his written opinion, filed Monday, Barnard noted the defendants all presented "viable" third-party custodians.

But because the United States has not entered into an extradition treaty with their native country, Barnard found there was no set of conditions that could ensure the defendants would return to St. Thomas for trial.

Attorneys on both sides agreed the charges expose each man to a prison sentence between 15 and 21 months.

FBI agents arrested the Salvadoran men when the Dawn docked in Havensight on March 20.

The teenagers had reported to their parents, then ship security, that the defendants forced them into Kanawati's cabin, where they intimidated them into drinking tequila and having sex with each other, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Jackson Purkey.

The teens said they felt they had no choice but to comply with the men's demands.

The ordeal ended when Kanawati grabbed the girl and tried to take her into the bathroom. The boy demanded he stop, warning him what he was doing was rape, according to Purkey's affidavit.

- Contact Joseph Tsidulko at 774-8772 ext. 332 or e-mail jtsidulko@dailynews.vi.