Chaves Robles becomes first Costa Rican president to face loss of immunity

The blimpish president faced a legislative sheet weighing whether helium should clasp his immunity from prosecution.

Rodrigo Chaves Robles has go the archetypal sitting president successful the past of Costa Rica to attest to a legislative committee arsenic helium faced charges of corruption and the anticipation of a transgression trial.

The three-member committee held the proceeding connected Friday to see whether oregon not to assistance Chaves Robles’s immunity arsenic president.

Doing truthful would pave the mode for Chaves Robles to beryllium prosecuted based connected allegations helium utilized government-related funds to springiness kickbacks to an ally.

Chaves Robles has denied immoderate wrongdoing and accused his opponents of utilizing the judiciary to oust his government.

“What we are experiencing has historical consequences,” Chaves Robles said connected Friday. “The full state is witnessing a ineligible rigging by the lawyer wide and the transgression court.”

He told his supporters extracurricular the Legislative Assembly that his adversaries had “staged a ridiculous lawsuit to transportation retired a judicial coup d’etat” and person the nationalist helium was a “scoundrel”.

The committee indispensable present a study pursuing Chaves Robles’s grounds to the afloat Legislative Assembly, which volition past ballot connected whether to portion him of his immunity from prosecution.

A blimpish economist and erstwhile curate of finance, Chaves Robles has been accused of forcing an subordinate to instrumentality wealth from a declaration awarded by a improvement bank, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and usage it to wage his erstwhile statesmanlike adviser, Federico Cruz.

The sum was allegedly $32,000, and Cruz utilized it to bargain a house, according to prosecutors.

The slope told the Reuters quality bureau that it had conducted its ain interior investigation, the conclusions of which were provided to Costa Rica’s lawyer general. Witnesses for the prosecution see the president’s erstwhile communications minister, Patricia Navarro, and businessman Christian Bulgarelli.

“I ne'er ordered the transportation of wealth to anyone,” Chaves Robles said successful effect to the allegations.

His lawyer, Jose Miguel Villalobos, besides argued that the accusations bash not conscionable the “minimum requirements” for the removal of statesmanlike immunity.

The Legislative Assembly would request a supermajority successful bid to portion Chaves Robles of his immunity.

Chaves Robles was considered a acheronian equine campaigner erstwhile he ran for president successful 2022, representing the blimpish Social Democratic Progress Party.

Even then, however, helium faced scrutiny for allegedly moving an amerciable parallel run financing structure. Multiple women besides came guardant to impeach him of intersexual harassment during his clip employed astatine the World Bank.

Chaves Robles is ineligible to tally for a 2nd word successful 2026: The instrumentality does not licence back-to-back statesmanlike terms.

Costa Rica is scheduled to clasp its adjacent statesmanlike predetermination connected February 1, and Chaves Robles’s word is slated to extremity the pursuing May.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies