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►Nine Dead, Finally Tally on Botched Bank Robbery
►Australian Student Still Missing in Costa Rica
►Former President Rodríguez Pleads For His Release
►Rain
Was Cause of Power Failure
Wednesday Morning
Former President Rodríguez Pleads For His Release
Former president, Miguel Angel Rodríguez, accompanied by his lawyer,
Rafael Gairaud y Eduardo Araya, was before Judge Gabriela Jara, of the
Segundo Circuito Penal, to plead his case for a release from preventive
detention in the La Reforma prison.
Rodríguez appeared before the same judge who ordered the detention
following his return to Costa Rican in October 2004 and later moved to
La Reforma after spending several weeks under house arrest in his
apartment in San Pedro.
The decision to send Rodríguez to La Reforma were mainly to prevent the
former president from leaving the county and impeding the ongoing
investigation into his alleged corruption for receiving monies from the
French telecommunications firm Alcatel, the Taiwanese government and a
contract given to a Spanish company for the underground burial of
electrical cabling in San José.
Rodríguez argued that he voluntarily returned to Costa Rica, knowing
full well that he would be arrested, thus he is not a flight risk.
Rodríguez also told the court, in a closed and private hearing, that he
suffers from "aneurisma" - an aneurysm - and hypertension and should not
be exposed to such a stressful environment like a prison.
Rodríguez has now spend five months behind bars, in a private cell in
the La Reforma prison, the same prison that houses former president
Rafael Angel Calderón.
Rodríguez told the judge that it is absurd that he be kept in prison,
because he is innocent and his rights have been violated. He told Judge
Jara that the accusations by the Fiscalía (Prosecutor's office) are
unfounded.
The judge has now 48 hours to render her decision whether to give
Rodríguez his freedom or to keep in jailed. If Judge Jara decides to
free the former president, Rodríguez could be with his family as early
as Monday.
What is An Aneurysm?
An aneurysm (AN'u-rizm) is a bulge in a blood vessel, much like a bulge
on an over-inflated inner tube. Aneurysms are dangerous because they may
burst.
The aorta, the main artery leading away from the heart, can sometimes
develop an aneurysm. Aortic aneurysms usually occur in the abdomen below
the kidneys (abdominal aneurysm), but may occur in the chest cavity
(thoracic -- tho-RAS'ik -- aneurysm). This can happen if the wall of the
aorta becomes weakened by build ups of fatty deposits called plaque.
This is called atherosclerosis (ath"er-o-skleh-RO'sis).
Aneurysms may also be due to an inherited disease such as the Marfan
syndrome.
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