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Published
Monday, March 2, 2020
President and seven aides face investigation in private data case By the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Prosecutor's Office carried out Friday searches on government buildings related to an investigation that is being carried on against President Carlos Alvarado and seven government executives, for the alleged crimes of a personal data breach, abuse of authority and prevarication. The legal term prevarication or perverting the course of justice 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. According to the prosecutor, in addition to Alvarado, the other investigated persons are: - Víctor Morales Mora, minister of the Presidency. - Daniel Soto Castro, vice minister of Planning. - Felly Salas Hernández, office director of President Alvarado. - Luis Fernando Salazar Muñoz, a legal advisor on a decree created by Alvarado. - In addition, three more people who worked directly with the database with information on civilians are under investigation. They were identified as Diego Fernández-Montero, Alejandro Madrigal-Rivas and Andrés Villalobos-Villalobos. On the same day of the searches Friday, the legal adviser, Salazar Muñoz, resigned his job at Presidential House. According to the government, Salazar Muñoz will continue his duties, ad-honorem, as presidential commissioner for LGBTIQ population issues. LGBTQ stands for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and those who are questioning their sexual identity. Regarding the searches, Alvarado said, "I understand that it is the way in which our democratic institutionality can make the truth known and give citizens confidence." He said in a video. "This issue must follow its due process. It is our will, desire and duty to expedite it." The searches were made at the Presidential House, the Ministry of Planning and the homes of some of the suspects, said the prosecutor. According to the investigation, since May 2018 an organization called the Presidential Unit for Data Analysis was working in the Presidential House. For more than a year and eight months, Madrigal, Villalobos and Fernández would have served as data consultants for that department. "It is alleged that they formed a government Unit to compile and analyze data for the alleged execution of public policies, apparently without any legal backing," said the prosecutor in its statement. This group sought personal and sensitive data of citizens from different institutions, and Alvarado was aware of this, according to the prosecutor. According to the Prosecutor's Office, Alvarado, and his two ministers, Morales and Soto, issued a decree to continue developing this activity, although they knew that they were breaking the law. Given the controversy created by this decree, a few hours later, the president said that he had revoked the decree and with it, the data analysis unit. The Attorney General, Emilia Navas was present at the search on the Presidential House, which lasted until Friday night. The search at the Ministry of Planning began on Friday and finished on Saturday. In addition, judicial agents seized computers, cell phones and documents for the case. Among the confiscated cell phones are the cell phone assigned to Alvarado and the cell phone assigned to Morales. In addition, given the controversy caused by the volatile creation of the decree to formalize the investigation unit, the Ombudsman's Office conducted its own investigation. A summary of the main facts investigated by the ombudsman are: - The analysis of the decree. - The issue related to data protection. - The risks generated by the commissioning of the data analysis equipment of the Presidential House. According to the Ombudsman's Office, the main results of the investigation were: - The decree to create that specialist's unit was contrary to the legal system by not complying with the procedure since it lacked technical studies and expert consultation on data protection. - In the decree, there were no follow the guidelines in accordance with the data protection law that include data identification, security and custody of the data obtained. - Article 7 of that decree could be illegal or unconstitutional, which made the unit inadmissible from the legal point of view. - Article 8 of the decree anticipated hiring a data protection or cybersecurity expert, but this was not done. Regarding data protection, the Ombudsman's Office concludes: - The team of advisors who worked on the data analysis for 18 months at the Presidential House performed their duties without legal support to justify their scope, limitations and responsibilities. - Likewise, that team did not have the technological and infrastructure resources required to perform the aforementioned tasks, which made them a de facto and not a legal organization. In addition, Alvarado, ordered an investigation into the process of preparing the decree that he and his key authorities created and annulled. According to the government, the investigation "will be directed by the lawyer, Carlos Elizondo-Vargas, secretary of the Governing Council." "We are ready to continue efforts that clarify everything regarding the creation of the decree and therefore, we have prioritized this investigation to be done in the most prompt way," said Silvia Lara, deputy minister of the Presidency. ----------------------------------- Should the Prosecutor's Office accelerate the investigation process due to the importance of the authorities involved ? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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