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Nine Months of Preventive
Detention for Former President
Calderón
At 11:30am yesterday, former
president Rafael Angel Calderón
Fournier got the bad news.
Criminal court judge, Carmen
Peraza, had made her decision
and the former president for the
next nine months will call a
jail cell at La Reforma prison
his home.
The decision came almost 24
hours following his detention on
Thursday morning and spending
the night at the Goicochea
courthouse jail cells.
The former president was
immediately transported from the
Goicochea by police who closed
off streets as the motorcade
made its 14 kilometer joureny to
the
La Reforma, is located in San
Rafael de Alajuela.
The La Reforma is the only
prison that has the maximum
security cells to be able to
protect the Calderón against any
reprisals from other inmates.
However, speculation is that
Calderón will probably be moved
to another prison in the coming
days, one that is perhaps better
to handle his special diet and
exercise needs that his doctors
are requesting.
Television channels were able to
broadcast live the movement of
the the former president to the
La Reforma. Noticias Repretel
followed close behind the
motorcade, while
Telenoticias broadcast from
high up in the air from a
helicopter.
The motorcade route was lined
with people on both sides of the
street to get a glimpse of the
former president who rode in the
back of a "perrera" or "kennel"
- the name given by Costa Ricans
to the police wagons that
transport prisoners.
Calderón has denied any
wrongdoing, but has not made a
detailed public defense. His
attorney, Gonzalo Castellon,
said he would appeal the ruling,
saying it has "enormous gaps and
inconsistencies."
Prosecutors say they are
formally investigating charges
of Calderón receiving bribes,
illegal enrichment and criminal
association.
Eliseo Vargas, former president
of the Caja Costarricense de
Seguro Social (CCSS), more
commonly known as the Caja,
testified on Tuesday that
Calderón was the mastermind
behind the commissions on the
Finnish loan, that was approved
by the Legislative Assembly to
purchase medical equipment for
the Caja.
Vargas was a deputy in the
Legislature when the loan was
approved and later was named
president of the Caja when the
loan was paid.
Vargas said about us$9 million
was paid out as commissions of
which Calderón not only shared,
but directed who gets paid what
and how much. Vargas said he got
double of the others because he
had been a deputy and the
president of the Caja.
Vargas has been in preventive
detention since September 7 of
this year, in the Cocorí jail in
Cartago and is said to have made
a deal to exchange jail for
house arrest for his testimony.
The dropping of the
investigation in to the
involvement of Vargas's daughter
was also part of the deal.
Walter Reiche Fischel, president
of the Corporación Fischel, who
was awarded the contract to
supply the medical equipment,
decided to also talk and tell
all.
Reiche was interviewed by
telephone by channel 7 news
Telenoticias from his home at
the La Reforma jail, the same
jail Calderón entered yesterday.
Reiche said that it was Calderón
who contacted him regarding the
Finnish loan. "Calderón was
contracted as a political
consultant. Once the laws to
make the loan possible was
approved, Eliseo Vargas
contacted me and suggested I
have a political advisor on my
team so that the project won't
get buried as it has happened in
the past. Vargas suggested that
I hire former president don
Rafael Angel Calderón."
Reiche continued with his story,
that Calderón's role was to
ensure that the project moved
quickly and there were no
conditions tied to the contract
the Corporación Fischel received
to make the purchase of the
equipment.
Calderón is the second former
leader of Costa Rica to be
detained in less than a week.
On Saturday, a judge ordered six
months of house arrest for
Miguel Angel Rodriguez,
president from 1998 until 2002,
while prosecutors prepare a case
against him for illegally
sharing commissions on
government contracts.
Pacheco Says
Calderón's Arrest Is An Example
for the World
"The law works" and
is an "example for the world",
were the words of president Abel
Pacheco in reference to the
detention of two former
presidents in less than a week.
Pacheco, speaking on national
television last night, that in
the past Costa Rica only caught
the snmall fish, however, "now
the law has gotten to the big
fishes".
The president in in the Pacific
coast attending to several
social functions when he made
his comments.
When asked if he considered the
measure to jail former president
Rafael Angel Calderón for the
next nine months, the president
told reporters thathe had
nothing say on the actions taken
by the Poder Judicial, the
judicial branch of the
government.
Pacheco said he is respectful of
the actions by the judicial
system, that they must know wha
they are doing and that rule of
law is for everyone.
With respect to Calderón,
Pacheco did concede that his is
pained what the man is going
through, knowing the former
president from the day he was
born.
Judge Talks of a "Criminal
Organization"
Judge Criminal court judge,
Carmen María Peraza, referred to
those involved in the
Fischel-Caja scandal as part of
an "intricate criminal
organization that has used
commercial and banking networks
to bring their plan to
fruition."
The judge supported the
suspicions of the Ministerio
Público that former president
Rafael Angel Calderón was at the
head of the acts to distribute
the commissions from the Finnish
loan to the Caja Costarricense
de Seguro Social (CCSS).
The judge said in the decision
that, ".. it is probable that
Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier
had had a major role in the
negotiations and the power to
decide exactly who got what and
what amount in the distribution
of the money, which places him
at a high level within the
criminal organization."
Penal judge Carmen María Peraza
Segura is a 38 year old woman
from Palmares, Alajuela, who has
been a lawyer since 1990, having
worked as a prosecutor at the
Ministerio Público before
becoming a judge.
Constitutional Court Rejects
Rodríguez Appeal
The Constitutional Court or Sala
IV as it is more commonly known,
has rejected several appeals and
petitions for Hapeas Corpus in
the detention of former
president Miguel Angel
Rodríiguez.
The courts decision was
announced Friday.
The Sala IV said in its decision
that the case should be dealt
before the penal courts. The
international warrant was public
knowledge and the former
president was detained as
detailed in the order and
judicial officials completed
their duties.
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