By
the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
The former president Oscar
Arias, through his lawyer Erick
Ramos, made a complaint about
extortion against a woman, whose
identity was not published, for
allegedly asking him for ¢25
million colones ( about $41,470)
in exchange for not publishing
an alleged sexual assault
against Arias.
According to statements made by
lawyer Ramos in local media,
"the woman asked for ¢25 million
colones in exchange for avoiding
the media to make a scandal for
alleged misconduct of my
client."
According to lawyer Ramos, on
Monday, March 25, a complaint
was filed in the Prosecutor's
Office of Pavas*. The
complaint was made to set into
motion a process that is
ordinary in this type of case.
The process is simple. Agents of
the Judicial Investigation
Organization would mark bills
that would be given over to the
woman. She would then be stopped
and, if found in possession of
the bills, arrested for
extortion.
The process could not be carried
out because, according to the
Mr. Ramos, on Wednesday, March
27, he received a call from a
radio communication medium
requesting an interview about
the complaint against Arias made
by the alleged extortionist. "I
was surprised because that
information was confidential, I
told the journalist that I was
not going to give any
information, I also asked him
not to do any publication
because an operation was being
done."
Apparently, the operation to
stop the woman was stopped
because it had been leaked to
the media.
"It seems to me that the
Attorney General must go to the
bottom of the matter," said
lawyer Ramos referring to the
investigation leak.
It is expected that, in the next
few hours, the Public Ministry
will publish a press release on
this case.
As A.M. Costa Rica has
reported, the Prosecutor's
office for Gender registered
two criminal complaints
against the former president
for alleged sexual assault.
One complaint was made by a
woman surnamed Arce and the
other by a woman surnamed
Morales. Those
accusations were registered as
file #19000098994-PE in the
Prosecutor's office and are
subject to investigation.
The first formal complaint
made by Mrs. Arce, was filed
as a rape accusation against
Mr. Arias.
According
to Mrs. Arce’s testimony,
"he grabbed me from behind
and touched my breasts. I
told him no and that he
was married, that was my
no. I did not know what I
really did, and I thought
that it was the only line
of defense, because I had
this fear: if I refused he
would not cooperate with
us anymore. He kept
touching me, he has put
his fingers in my vagina
and he touched me and
kissed me. And then he
told me to wait a moment
and he left the office. I
was like I did not know
what to do, I felt trapped
at that moment."
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A.M.
Costa Rica wire
services photo
According
to lawyer Ramos,
on Monday, March
25, a complaint
was filed in the
Prosecutor's
Office of Pavas.
The second
official
denounced for
the alleged
crime of
sexual abuse,
was made by a
woman surnamed
Morales.
According to
her, the
events took
place in 2015
at Mr. Arias
home. He had
sent her a
message on
Facebook to
invite her to
visit him to
give her a
book.
"He stood in
front of me
next to the
door that was
closed. I'm
taller than
him, however,
he grabbed my
head, I had
loose hair, he
grabbed me, he
forced me to
get closer to
his body, then
with one of
his hands he
touched my
breasts over
my clothes and
then he kissed
me against my
will. I was
frozen, I did
not know what
to say, the
only thing I
could think
was to tell
him 'Don’t
Oscar, I have
to go'. He did
not tell me
anything. He
did not move
away. I was
shocked. I did
not expect
something like
this from a
person so
recognized and
whom I admired
very much,"
said Morales.
The other
seventh
accusations of
similar
behavior went
public in
newspapers.
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Is
the media
abusing the
right to
information when
they publish
information that
is
confidential?
We would like to
know your
thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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