PRD Deputy declared ‘not guilty' of sex crimes

After 8 hours of deliberation the plenary session of the Supreme Court at 11.30 pm on Friday, April  16, declared PRD  deputy Arquesio Arias not guilty of the crime of aggravated rape and aggravated libidinous acts against two women, one of them a minor.

For the crime of aggravated libidinous acts, after three votes, the Oral Trial Court did not reach a qualified majority vote (two-thirds), to decide the guilt or not of the deputy, and therefore he was not convicted. 

“The decision of the Highest Court was based on the fact that, during the development of the oral trial, it was not possible to prove the commission of the crime of libidinous acts under any modality and neither was the crime of rape in its aggravated modality proven, due to the serious inconsistencies ”, said a court press release.

The deliberation by the Oral Trial Court began on Friday, April 16, at 2:50 pm, after the intervening parties finished the closing arguments, after 8 days of the Oral Trial.