Suspended AG questioned for 5 hours

Suspended Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez, Attorney’s Office, was questioned for five hours on Tuesday (May 18) over a lawsuit filed by a prosecutor dismissed for allegedly collecting a bribe.

Gomez answered around 30 questions put to her by the secretary general of the Office of Administration, Nelson Rojas,.

He was seeking to know why Gomez ordered the wiretapping of Archimedes Sáez, without legal authority to do so.

"It was a bit of a tedious investigation, because from my point of view the questions were subjective and suggestive” said Gomez.

She explained that she ordered the wiretap based on the interpretation of existing laws at the time.
"It was a routine procedure requested by prosecutors to investigate serious crimes,"

She said the ordering of wiretaps against Saez was not unique.
"There were other similar cases and only in the case of former prosecutor Sáez was I accused of abuse of authority and abuse of functions," she said.

Gomez requested the lifting of the injunction prohibiting her from leaving the country without court approval.

Saez was suspended from office in 2005, after being accused by a defendant of demanding a payment of $ 2,000 in exchange for a less severe injunction.

An undercover operation was set up when Sáez was to have received the alleged bribe at his residence. Saez is free on bail, awaiting trial.