By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
Former president Óscar Arias
appeared before the Prosecutor's
Office of the Public Minister
Monday, to declare his innocence
in the preliminary hearing on the
controversial and complex Infinito
Gold criminal case.
At the conclusion of the
hearing, Arias said "I think the
accusation is totally unfounded.
As you know now, they have used
the theory of conspiracy: That I
am the architect of a criminal
plan where I have been able to
gather many MINAE officials
[Environmental Ministry] to commit
a crime. Frankly, in honor of the
truth, I feel that the prosecution
has more imagination than García
Márquez or Jules Verne."
Óscar Arias Sánchez was president
from 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to
2010. He received the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1987 for his efforts to
end the Central American crisis.
He is also a recipient of the
Albert Schweitzer Prize for
Humanitarianism and a trustee of
Economists for Peace and Security.
In 2003, he was elected to the
Board of Directors of the
International Criminal Court's
Trust Fund for Victims.
The Public Ministry alleges that
Arias is suspect of corruption for
signing the 2008 Decree of
National Convenience that allowed
the Canadian company Infinito Gold
Mining to explore for the mineral
in Crucitas in Cutris, San Carlos*.
In 2010 the Contentious Court
annulled the decree, which allowed
accusations to be opened against
the suspects.
Former environment minister
Roberto Dobles and six key
officials of the Environmental
Ministry have also been accused in
the case. Dobles declared
his innocence after a preliminary
hearing on January 17th.
"I am totally innocent of what is
being accused. When I signed the
documents that I had to sign, I
did not knew that there was an
illegality and of course the
ministers sign many things And
this project had been studied for
17 years, which is why I have
indicated that today I am
innocent," Dobles said on leaving
the hearing.
The open pit mine had been
praised by officials as a major
economic development in northern
Costa Rica. Environmentalists and
activists condemned the project
for being a potential source of
pollution. Hundreds of students
rallied for months against the
project. One activist even walked
from San Jose to the site to
attract media attention.
Officials of the Canadian firm
estimated that there were billions
of dollars in gold in the ground
that could be extracted by a
leaching method.
The case has been in and out of
the courts and appeals panels for
nearly nine years.
Dobles was found guilty of
malfeasance in January of 2015 and
sentenced to three years in
prison. The conviction was
annulled by an appeals panel in
November of that year.
The
Public Prosecutor's Office
requested the dismissal of the
case against Arias in 2014,
and a criminal court accepted
the request.
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A.M. Costa Rica
wire services photo
The
Public Ministry
alleges that Arias is
suspect of corruption
for signing the 2008
Decree of National
Convenience that
allowed the Canadian
company Infinito Gold
Mining to explore for
the mineral in
Crucitas in
Cutris, San Carlos.
Former attorney
general, Jorge
Chavarria, had
created two
different files that
year so that there
could be two trials
despite the fact
that the allegations
were supposed to
represent one case.
One file was
established for
Arias and the other
for Dobles and the
rest of the
suspects.
In November 2017,
the new attorney
general, Emilia
Navas, announced the
reopening of the
cases and requested
that the judge to
combine all the
allegations into one
case. Last
November, a judge
accepted the
request.
The gold mining
company was hit with
environmental
allegations and its
concession was
canceled. Among
other crimes alleged
was the cutting of
mountain almond
trees that are
favored by the great
green macaw. The
company cut some of
the trees to prepare
for the mining pit,
in part due to the
decree by Arias.
After the
government annulled
the concession,
Infinito Gold opened
a claim for
$321million in
compensation before
the International
Center for
Settlement of
Investment Disputes
of the World Bank
under the
Canadian-Costa Rican
trade agreement.
That action
generated protests
here and in Canada.
The company has
since lowered its
request even though
the international
price of gold has
soared since the
firm announced the
project.
The arbitration
center's website
still listed the
case as pending on
Monday, meaning no
decision has been
made. The last
action was January 8
when the
three-arbitrator
panel considered
more documents.
---------
Should
the government
pay the
reimbursement
requested by
Canadian
company?
We would like to know
your thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
*Reach
the place on google
maps.
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