Chief Prosecutor Re-elected For Another 4-year Term

Costa Rica’s Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall’Anese was re-elected this week for another term, promising that he will focus his efforts in the next four years on battling organized crime.

Fifteen of Costa Rica’s 22 Supreme Court justices voted in favor of Dall’Anese’s re-election Monday, according to a Judicial Branch statement.

Dall’Anese, 47, put in his bid for reelection last week, saying he wanted to settle unfinished business, namely the ongoing investigation of three ex-Presidents and fending off the organized crime invading Costa Rica (TT, Nov. 2).

The Chief Prosecutor’s stint in office kicked off in 2004 with the explosion of corruption scandals involving three ex-Presidents. Though prosecutors have requested that a corruption probe against José María Figueres (1994-1998) for his alleged involvement in a telecom contract scandal be put to rest, charges have been filed against Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002) for his alleged involvement in the same scandal, and Rafael Angel Calderón Jr. (1990-1994) will go to trial for a medical equipment purchase scandal.

The former justice with a University of Costa Rica (UCR) law degree claims state prosecutors working under him have processed more than 550,000 complaints during his first four years in office, which justices who voted in favor of him cited as a main reason for his re-election. Once a formal complaint is filed in a criminal case, it is the job of the Chief Prosecutor’s and Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) investigators to put together enough evidence for a case to be taken to trial.