Costa Rica protests against U.S. over detention of general prosecutor [View All]

[arcos]

Source: Xinhua

SAN JOSE, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed its protest to the United States following the detention of the country's general prosecutor.

Francisco Dall'Anesse was detained at Miami airport on April 23when he was about to enter the United States on an official trip.

"With this strong protest, (Costa Rica's) Foreign Ministry echoes the disagreement of the people and government of Costa Rica. This aggression against our general prosecutor is an affront to all Costa Ricans," said the protest note.

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Invited by the general prosecutor of the United States, Dall'Anese was on his trip to attend two prosecutors' meetings before he was detained.

"This episode is one of many reiterated incidents affecting Costa Rican officials and it reveals the United States' serious disrespect of international juridical regulations. This attitude, evidently, does not contribute to strengthening friendship and cooperation in the framework of mutual defense before common threats," stated the protest note.

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Read more: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/26/content_8054843.htm

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The "general prosecutor" has quite a few of the responsibilities of the Attorney General in the US, although here it is not a strictly political position... meaning, he is not named by the President, but by the Supreme Court.

Funny thing is, he apparently was going to attend the deposition of Christian Sapsizian, former Alcatel executive, who was charged in the US for paying bribes to Costa Rican government officials. Dall'Anasse is investigating this case in Costa Rica too, and a former President, right winger Miguel Angel Rodríguez, was jailed and is currently awaiting trial because he apparently negotiated (and received) a $1 million bribe from Alcatel.