By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Criminal Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of San José declared Thursday the definitive dismissal against former president Óscar Arias in the case of Crucitas*.

Definitive dismiss is a legal term that means "to be unwilling to pursue." In Commonwealth and the U.S. common law it is used for ending a criminal case before trial or before a verdict is rendered. The same statement was also made by the judge, in February.

According to Rodolfo Brenes, the lawyer of the former president, this case was dismissed in February, so the action to reopen the case by the Prosecutor's Office had no justification.

"We regret that the Public Ministry has reopened a criminal process without any new evidence to justify it, in a case where clearly no crime was committed and where the facts have been prescribed for a long time," said Brenes.

The prescription legal term,  or expiration date case, is a statute of limitations if a law passed by a legislative body in a common law system to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated.

However, there is still a period where the Prosecutor's Office can appeal the judge's decision.

Sept. 16, the Attorney General's Office again requested that former president Óscar Arias Sánchez should be brought to trial in the Crucitas case.

In February the Prosecutor presented the justification of this request, saying that the former president Arias prevarication when he signed the decree that authorized mining in Cutris in San Carlos* in the northern zone of the country.

The legal term prevarication is a crime that consists of an authority issuing an arbitrary resolution in an administrative or judicial matter knowing that said resolution is unfair and contrary to the law.

At the preliminary hearing in February, the judge dismissed the case because of a prescription, a decision that was appealed by the Public Ministry.

As A.M. Costa Rica has been reported, the Prosecutor General's Office accused former president Óscar Arias Sánchez of malfeasance for decreeing that the mining project, operated by the company Infinito Gold Mining in Cutris in San Carlos*, was of national interest.

Arias was never charged for the granting of the mining concession or for the declaration of national convenience of that activity, but his former minister of the Environment, Roberto Dobles, who also signed the declaration, was charged in the case and convicted in January 2015. Arias was not charged then.

This sentence was annulled, and a preliminary hearing is pending to establish if the case is going back to trial.

Arias insisted on his innocence. The mining concession was granted long before Arias took office.

The reactivation of the case was covered by a legal analysis ordered by the attorney general to deepen the search for new evidence that was not incorporated into the investigation file at the appropriate time, the judiciary said.

Arias served two terms as president. The first term was from 1986 to 1990. The second was from 2006 to 2010. It was during the second term when the Crucitas situation developed.

The Crucitas open pit gold mining operation was controversial. After Arias signed the decree, a court shut down the project to protect some trees favored by endangered birds. The mining company's Canadian parent, Infinito Gold, Ltd., brought a case in March 2014 against Costa Rica in the World Bank's arbitration system based on a trade agreement between the two countries. That case still is pending, and Costa Rica just filed additional paperwork.

The Crucitas site now is invaded periodically by illegal miners. At one time the company estimated that there was about $2 billion in gold in the ground.


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Could be the image of former president Arias affected for this long-time case against him?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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