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Three
men accused of attempting to
incite an uprising against
the nation's government have
been remanded to three
months of pre-trial
detention. / Judicial
Investigating Organization
courtesy photos.
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Trio suspected
of being members of a subversive
group that threatened president
jailed
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Three men accused of attempting to
incite an uprising against the
nation's government have been
remanded to three months of
pre-trial detention.
The three faced a judge Sunday in
San Carlos*.
They are accused of producing and
distributing on social networks a
call for citizens to protest and
take up arms against President
Carlos Alvarado. The Prosecutor's
office of Narcotrafficking and
Related Offenses said the trio
styled themselves as members of
the Frente Patriota 7 de Julio,
which translates into the
Patriotic Front of July 7. That is
the date the video appeared.
Prosecutors identified the three
men by the last names of
Sequeira-Mendiola, 60 years
old, Fernández-Ramírez , 34
years old and Masís-Artavia, 54
years old. The office said that
the specific charge was mutiny.
According to the prosecutor's
report, the two men
Sequeira-Mendiola and
Fernández-Ramírez were arrested
Friday in San Carlos*
in the northern zone.
Masís-Artavia was arrested
Saturday in a farm in the sector
of Río Cuarto in
Alajuela*. He is suspect of
complicity with the alleged
revolutionary group, prosecutors
said.
The Judicial Investigation
Organization said a video made by
the group was published on social
networks July 7, and it urged the
Costa Rican people to stage a coup
against the president. The video
showed at least 15 masked people
individuals, the judicial agency
said.
The one of the first two men
detained, Sequeira, has a criminal
record for fraud, the judicial
report said, adding that he was
convicted but had not yet been
jailed to serve a sentence. There
was a warrant for his arrest, it
said.
Masis is a former police officer
with a large criminal record,
judicial agents reported. He is
suspected of having filmed the
video. His detention was made
inside a property where he was
accompanied by a woman with the
last name of Gamboa- Freer.
The woman is a cousin of the
former magistrate surnamed Gamboa
- Sánchez. The woman was not
arrested.
In March, former magistrate Gamboa
-Sánchez went to the
Public Ministry to start a case
against Maria Faria, the current
Venezuelan ambassador. This action
identified Gamboa
-Sánchez as the representative of
the government of Nicolas Maduro,
who is disputing power with the
acting president, Juan Guaidó
Márquez, the president of the
country's national assembly, which
opposed Maduro.
The events in which Gamboa
-Sánchez accuses Farias go
back to Feb, 20, when Farias, a
Guiadó supporter, and her
collaborators entered the embassy
building before the date
established by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica.
"In relation to the events that
took place on Feb. 20, at the
Consulate of Venezuela, the Office
of the First Judicial Circuit of
San José confirmed that this
morning was received a complaint
to investigate the presumed
usurpation in that embassy. The
case was assigned file
19-000185-0619-PE and is in the
initial stage of the
investigation, " said the Ministry
in its statement.
Neither of the judicial agents nor
the Prosecutor's Office linked
former magistrate Gamboa
-Sánchez or his cousin Gamboa-
Freer, with the group of
revolutionaries or the three men
captured during the weekend.
In addition to the arrests of the
three suspects, the agents
searched the house of Masís where,
in addition to arresting him,
agents seized documents and cell
phones related to the
investigation," said the judicial
agents on a statement.
In addition to agents from the
Judicial Investigating
Organization, agents from the
National Security Intelligence
Directorate and the Special
Intervention Unit participated in
the arrests.
Agents said there could be more
arrests.
Alvarado, in speaking of the
threat, said that "Costa Rica has
a route to solve its problems in
peace and that is the only one
that we must follow."
-------------------------------
Should the investigators speed up
the process of capturing the rest
of the members of the subversive
group? We would
like to know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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