Court Accepts Appeal in Zelaya Matter

Judge Claudio Aguilar accepted an appeal brought by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) against its decision to refrain from taking cases brought by the prosecution against former President Manuel Zelaya.

The spokesperson for the courts in Tegucigalpa, Barbara Castillo, said Judge Aguilar will transfer the case files to a Court of Appeals to make a decision. The judge will send the documents to the Court of Appeals once all parties are notified of the decision, she stated.

The PGR, which is the legal office of the State, appealed before the same court against its decision Jan. 7th, through which it was ruled it would not hear the case, but would elevate it to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).

The Office believes that if Aguilar is considered inappropriate to hear cases against Zelaya, then he had been inhibited from the start, and therefore, should not have even appointed defenders of the former president, which he did at the request of the PGR in December.

Initially, Aguilar was “disqualified” on the grounds that the Zelaya case, brought by the Public Prosecutor (OTP), should only be heard by the Supreme Court because Zelaya is Member of Parliament (Parlacen).

The Prosecutor against Corruption in 2009 initiated proceedings against Zelaya, who joined the Central American Parliament on September 17, 2009 in his capacity as former president of Honduras.

Following the two processes, Zelaya has outstanding arrest warrants for the crimes of falsification of public documents and fraud against the public faith and public administration. According to the prosecution, Zelaya committed those crimes by diverting public funds to campaign for a referendum to be held on June 28, 2009, in order to install a Constituent Assembly.

The attorney general, Ethel Deras, argued in December that the PGR requested the appointment of a defense for Zelaya, because none had been assigned.

Manuel Zelaya has lived in the Dominican Republic since January 27, 2010.


One Response to "Court Accepts Appeal in Zelaya Matter"

  1. Axel Reyes Bogran  January 18, 2011 at 10:18 am

    Can we just forget about Zelaya?

    He does not deserve a fair trial because he was not being fair to the Honduran people, the same people that had elected to take care of them, and whom he was betraying by attempting to sell the country to his pal Hugo Chavez, who has already proven to the world that all he wants is to be a Dictator, and whom Zelaya emmulates.
    Come on Honduras, wake up, Zelaya is costing money.

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