By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
On Monday a woman filed a sexual
assault complaint against former
President Oscar Arias at the
Public Prosecutor's Office. This
accusation was registered as file
# 190994PE to be investigated by
the prosecutor's officials. As the
accuser requested, her name will
not be published.
Tuesday, two more women made
public complaints against the
president Arias, for similar
behavior.
The second public complaint was
made on Tuesday by journalist Emma
Daly, editor of the Human Rights
Watch organization. Mrs. Daly,
stated her accusations in an
interview in the Washington
Post.
According to Ms Daly, former
president Arias groped her in 1990
when she was a reporter covering
Central America issues and he was
president.
She said she was at the
Intercontinental Hotel in Managua,
Nicaragua and the former president
was also there.
Ms Daly said she asked to former
president a question and he
instead of answering the question
put his hand between her breasts
and exclaimed, "You're not wearing
a bra." Ms. Daly said that
she responded, "Yes, I am."
According to Ms Daly's
interview, she did not think about
making a formal complaint against
Arias, in part because she thought
that being that was common
behavior in Central America at the
time.
"We just kind of took it," she
said. "It seemed as if being
treated like that came with the
territory, and there was not much
I could do about it."
Ms Daly's interview in the
Washington Post can be reach on
this link*
Another reporter also made a
public complaint in a newspaper
interview on Tuesday.
In this case the reporter was Ana
Eleonora Antillón, known as Nono
Antillón.
That interview was covered by
local newspaper, La Nación.
Antillón, who first revealed
details of her experience on
social networks, told to La Nación
that when she was 25 years old,
she was working as press adviser
for Arias in the electoral
campaign of the National
Liberation Party, before the 1986
elections.
"He was sitting in front of his
desk, he came up to me, took my
hand and put it on his erect
penis. I pushed him and I stood up
and he threw himself at me. He
grabbed me by the shoulders, threw
me against a closet and began to
touch me. With the noise, somebody
began to knock on the door. From
then on I did not accept to be
alone with him when he was quoting
me alone," said Antillón.
The interview of Mrs. Antillón
can be read in the following link*.
It is important to clarify that
only one complaint was made before
the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The
public denunciations of Mrs.
Daily and Mrs. Antillón,
were not officially registered
at the prosecutor's
office.
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Former
President Oscar Arias/
A.M. Costa Rica wire
services photos
The
public denunciations of
Mrs. Daily and Mrs.
Antillon, were not
officially registered at
the prosecutor's office.
Instead, both made the
open public complaints
during newspaper
interviews.
With regard to these
complains, President
Carlos Alvarado, who
was in Cartago*
giving an speech on
the official opening
at the school season,
said that all the
rights must be
respected for the
complaining women as
well as to the former
president Arias.
"There are two central
elements that must be
considered. One
guarantees for women
in this and in any
case, to proceed as
appropriate, there
must be all the
guarantees for that to
happen. In the case of
the former president,
his right to defense
must be guaranteed.
This is something that
is already in the
courts, by the part of
the judiciary process
and there to establish
the truth of the
facts. We have to see
it with that prudence
as a country," said
president Alvarado.
In response to the
report of the
Semanario Universidad,
former President Oscar
Arias published the
following statement in
Spanish language local
media:
“I categorically
reject the
accusations. I would
never have acted
disrespecting the will
of any woman, even
less in the case of
her freedom to relate
to another person. In
my public life I have
promoted gender
equality, because I
believe it is an
indispensable means to
achieve a more just
and equitable society
for all people. Being
that, I was informed,
there is a complaint
made against me, I
will exercise my
defense before the
Courts of Justice and
I will not make
further public
comments on this
issue.”
The original Semanario
Universidad report in
Spanish can be
reach in the
following
link*.
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Due to
the high importance of
this case, should the
prosecution speed up
the process of the
discovery and action?
We would like to
know your thoughts on
this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
*Link to
reach the source or
place on google maps.
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