SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- President Hipolito Mejia has
                  ordered the attorney general to drop a corruption case against former President
                  Salvador Jorge Blanco, a member of Mejia's political party.

                  In 1991 a local court sentenced Jorge Blanco to serve 20 years in prison and pay
                  a 73 million pesos (then $6 million) fine and 24 million pesos (then $2 million) in
                  restitution for his conviction on charges of misappropriation of government
                  funds during his term as president from 1982 to 1986.

                  Jorge Blanco only served two months of his sentence before the National
                  Congress granted him amnesty. He has been awaiting a hearing in his appeal to
                  overturn his conviction ever since.

                  He was the last president elected from the Dominican Revolutionary Party until
                  Mejia's victory in May. Jorge Blanco's supporters have claimed that he was a
                  victim of politics.

                  Mejia wrote in his order this week that Jorge Blanco suffered "political
                  persecution with precedents," after his party lost the elections in 1986 to Joaquin
                  Balaguer, who ruled for the next 10 years.

                  "For the first time justice is beginning to be done for ex-President Jorge Blanco,"
                  said Attorney General Virgilio Bello Rosa Friday. Bello Rosa was Jorge Blanco's
                  defense attorney before being appointed to his current post when Mejia took
                  office on August 16.

                  Judge Marino Vinicio Castillo, one of Jorge Blanco's principal accusers, called
                  Mejia's decision to drop the case "a severe blow to the fight against corruption."

                  Mejia has promised to eliminate official corruption, and prosecute everyone from
                  the past government who took advantage of their positions, but he has said he is
                  not on a "witch hunt" after officials from the previous administration.

                  Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
                          not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.