Former President Oscar Arias trial is on hold while the court waits for financial documents from Canadian Mining company.
The Public Ministry reported that the case against former President Oscar Arias “remains pending” waiting over two months to receive financial evidence from Canada that is supposed to be essential to proceed.
The preliminary hearing ended this past Monday, where the prosecution questioned the former Minister of Environment, Roberto Dobles, and six staff Environmental Technical Secretariat.
The financials requested are to determine if the company Industrias Infinito made a donation of $ 200,000 to the Arias Foundation for Peace and Progress in 2008, when he was President Oscar Arias.
The money, according to the NGO Mine Watch Canada, had been given to the Foundation before Mina Crucitas Arias declared public interest.
Last November, Jorge Chavarria, Attorney General, said they decided to indict the former Minister of Environment and six SETENA officials because they wanted to separate them from the case against president Arias pending Canadian investigation.
On Monday, seven Canadian NGOs sent a letter to the company Infinito Gold asking to depose all legal actions against Costa Rica.
The letter was sent to John Morgan, CEO of the company Infinito Gold, to “terminate a decade of harassment against Costa Rica and its people, and to remove the threat launched on April 4 against the small Central American nation, threatening to sue for an amount of one billion dollars if not granted reopening the Crucitas mining project.”
Costa Rica had forced the open-pit mining operation to close in Costa Rica due to extensive environmental damage.
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose Costa rRica
