- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1
Dadparvar
Staff member
- Nov 11, 2016
- 10,212
- 0
- 6
Costa Rica’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal urged its National Assembly on Tuesday to strip President Chaves of his immunity, allowing him to face accusations of political interference. The step comes two weeks after Chaves dodged a similar push from the Supreme Court to strip immunity for corruption.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the country’s highest authority that oversees the running and organization of fair elections, consists of independent judges who make rulings on electoral issues. Following numerous complaints from different lawmakers and party leaders, the TSE unanimously agreed that the complaints were admissible. Article 270 of the Electoral Act states that because the charges concern the president, the lifting of his immunity must be previously requested from the Legislative Assembly. The TSE resolved the complaints by sending their findings to the Assembly, allowing the investigation to progress.
This comes after claims of President Chaves’s political interference in the upcoming February 2026 elections. The president is reported to have repeatedly violated the TSE prohibition on public officials participating in or referencing issues related to elections.
The prosecutor’s office also accused the president of concusión back in April 2025. The penalty for abuse of authority by a public official for private gain can result in up to 8 years in prison. The prosecutors allege that the president and the Minister of Culture coerced $32,000 from a Central American Bank for Economic Integration contract to give to his personal friend and close advisor, Federico Cruz. Federico Cruz is now also facing criminal charges in a separate trial.
The decision to prosecute Chaves was supported by the Supreme Court in July, which urged lawmakers to strip the president of his immunity so that he could be tried on the corruption charges. The president then appeared before the Assembly’s committee in August to reject corruption allegations, calling the matter a politically motivated judicial coup d’état. He also criticized the TSE over campaign rules, claiming they prevent people from having the right to be informed.
Ultimately, the National Assembly rejected the Supreme Court’s attempt, falling short of the supermajority needed to lift immunity, mangling only 34 votes out of the 38 needed. This is the first time that they have voted to lift a president’s immunity in Costa Rican history. Now that the TSE has sent another court-sanctioned attempt to strip Chaves of his immunity, it is difficult to ascertain whether the votes would change in such a short period of time, even with different reasons for the immunity removal.
The post Costa Rica elections court urges lawmakers to strip President Chaves of immunity appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the country’s highest authority that oversees the running and organization of fair elections, consists of independent judges who make rulings on electoral issues. Following numerous complaints from different lawmakers and party leaders, the TSE unanimously agreed that the complaints were admissible. Article 270 of the Electoral Act states that because the charges concern the president, the lifting of his immunity must be previously requested from the Legislative Assembly. The TSE resolved the complaints by sending their findings to the Assembly, allowing the investigation to progress.
This comes after claims of President Chaves’s political interference in the upcoming February 2026 elections. The president is reported to have repeatedly violated the TSE prohibition on public officials participating in or referencing issues related to elections.
The prosecutor’s office also accused the president of concusión back in April 2025. The penalty for abuse of authority by a public official for private gain can result in up to 8 years in prison. The prosecutors allege that the president and the Minister of Culture coerced $32,000 from a Central American Bank for Economic Integration contract to give to his personal friend and close advisor, Federico Cruz. Federico Cruz is now also facing criminal charges in a separate trial.
The decision to prosecute Chaves was supported by the Supreme Court in July, which urged lawmakers to strip the president of his immunity so that he could be tried on the corruption charges. The president then appeared before the Assembly’s committee in August to reject corruption allegations, calling the matter a politically motivated judicial coup d’état. He also criticized the TSE over campaign rules, claiming they prevent people from having the right to be informed.
Ultimately, the National Assembly rejected the Supreme Court’s attempt, falling short of the supermajority needed to lift immunity, mangling only 34 votes out of the 38 needed. This is the first time that they have voted to lift a president’s immunity in Costa Rican history. Now that the TSE has sent another court-sanctioned attempt to strip Chaves of his immunity, it is difficult to ascertain whether the votes would change in such a short period of time, even with different reasons for the immunity removal.
The post Costa Rica elections court urges lawmakers to strip President Chaves of immunity appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.