QCOSTARICA — Minutes after President Rodrigo Chaves accused the Attorney General’s Office of acting under political interest in the case of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), the president of the Supreme Court, Orlando Aguirre, and the president of the Legislative Assembly, Rodrigo Arias, called for president’s respect for the country’s institutions.
Both categorically denied that the Public Ministry is politicized.
“I deeply regret that our nation has fallen, in recent months, into a spiral of polarization, division and confrontation, fueled by a discourse that, sadly, seeks to weaken our democratic institutions,” said Arias. In addition, he said that it is particularly serious at a time when the country faces an increase in insecurity.
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Arias also pointed out that Costa Rica does not deserve the Executive Branch to systematically attack the principles that have made the country an international benchmark.
For his part, Orlando Aguirre, president of the Supreme Court of Justice, stressed that “the division of powers, judicial independence and institutionality are essential foundations of our Social State of Law.” He also rejected any suggestion that the decisions of the Judicial Branch respond to political interests and affirmed that the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) are supported by the legal framework and subject to the control of the law.
These statements were made after Chaves’ words on Wednesday, at the press conference following the weekly session of cabinet, when the president insisted that justice in Costa Rica “is politicized,” referring to the arrest of Marta Esquivel, president of the CCSS, which occurred on Monday.
Chaves questioned the fact that Esquivel was arrested while other figures, such as the former Ombudswoman, Ofelia Taitelbaum, already convicted, have not been.
The president described the decision of the Public Ministry as “a clumsy whim” and criticized the treatment of Esquivel, comparing her to a drug trafficking criminal.
“If they were not going to request her arrest in advance as a precautionary measure and knowing that she turned herself in of her own free will, there was no justification in any way for Marta Esquivel to be treated as “a drug trafficker,” according to President Rodrigo Chaves.
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Esquivel was arrested for her alleged involvement in the gross overpricing in the awarding of contracts to cooperatives for the operation of the Ebáis (local clinics).
Fiscalia confirms bomb threat 24 hours after CCSS raids
One day after the prosecutor’s office arrested the president of the CCSS and others, a total of 8 people, the Fiscalia confirmed that a bomb threat against their facilities was made.
“It is reported that unfortunately a bomb threat has been received at the Attorney General’s Office. The situation is being dealt with all security measures and fortunately all our staff is safe and in good condition. The Public Ministry repudiates this type of unprecedented acts, which occurred one day after the 28 raids and arrests carried out within a case of alleged public corruption,” said the Fiscalia’s press office.
For his part, Attorney General Carlo Díaz stated that no threat will prevent the Public Prosecutor’s Office from continuing, “unwaveringly,” to do the work that the law has entrusted to it.
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