Judge threatens action against critics

A judge who has gained notoriety for his velvet glove rulings in high profile corruption cases has issued not so veiled threats to critics.

On Friday, November 30 as he handed down another controversial decision fifteenth criminal judge Leslie Loaiza said: “ “If the decision is not to the liking of some, for that there are the respective resources. We issue the resolutions impartially, independently, and without media pressure. “

The comment came in the ruling that partially annulled the case of seven officials of the last government for alleged irregularities in the rental of helicopters with funds from the now-defunct National Assistance  Program (PAN).

The warning did not end there reports La Prensa. He immediately says that if he is attacked in the exercise of his judicial actions, he will be forced to take the actions that the Penal Code allows him to denounce threats to judges. That includes, he says, sanctions for disrespect, and civil suits for attacking his honor.

After the warning, gave the reasons for declaring the nullity of the case against the ex-ministers of Agricultural Development  Emilio Kieswetter and  Óscar Osorio, and of Health Franklin Vergara and Javier Díaz. The ruling also favors the former director of the National Civil Protection System Arturo Alvarado, and the former director of the National Land Administration Authority Franklin Oduberand the ex-Minister of Health Serafin Sanchez.

The Fourth Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office charged them with the alleged commission of crimes against the public administration. However, Loaiza decided to declare the relative nullity of the case alleging lack of due process when the inquiry was made.

He was inspired by international conventions and particularly by two Supreme Court rulings. One of them is the sentence of Judge Angela Russo that annulled the process that was being followed by former Security Minister José Raúl Mulino, for supposed anomalies in the purchase of radars. That ruling alleged that the prosecution extended the investigation process.

The other is the decision of the Second Superior Court, which ordered the annulment of the proceedings against former Minister of Education Lucy Molinar, for the alleged commission of the offense against public administration in the purchase of musical instruments. The court warned that the Anticorruption Public Prosecutor’s Office exceeded the investigation period and did not ask the judge of the case for authorization to continue the investigation.

It is the second decision of Loaiza in the same month that benefits those investigated in the same case.

On November 8  he declared the nullity of the process followed to by  former Minister of Social Development Guillermo Ferrufino, arguing that the offense is not proven “to be an ineffective audit of the Comptroller.” Curiously, the judge had validated an effective collaboration agreement between the Public Prosecutor and former PAN director  Rafael Guardia, in which the former official confessed to committing the crime against the public administration in this process.

But the fifteenth judge has also been in the news in the last month for other failures says La Prensa.

He granted bail of $ 500,000 to the ex-Minister of Public Works Federico José Pepe Suárez, in the investigation overpricing in the widening project of the Domingo Díaz road.

A report from the Public Prosecutor’ warns that he  is one of the judges that has given most bail in high profile cases, with 23 so far

In November the Judicial Branch announced that Loaiza admitted a nullity incident against the investigations of former ministers Lucy Molinar (Education), Roberto Cohen Henríquez (Presidency), Ferrufino (Social Development) and Jaime Ford Castro (Public Works), as part of the research for the purchase and sale of grains of the PAN.

In this same case, last May, the judge in charge Dalys Sánchez (currently secretary of the court) dictated the file of the trial against the former Minister of Finance  Frank De Lima.

While in July of this year, the judge gave a definitive dismissal to 16 people in the case of the purchase of backpacks with PAN money. Among the defendants were  Molinar, Poulette Morales, Mario Martinelli, Gia¡como Tamburrelli and Pablo Ruiz Obregón.

In August he pronounced a definitive dismissal in favor of the former candidate for Democratic Change deputy Heriberto Yunito Vega. The measure also benefited Tamburrelli.