Celso Gamboa Sánchez, magistrate suspended from the Supreme Court of Justice, lost his immunity on Thursday and will now be tried for alleged influence peddling to the detriment of the duties of the public function.
In a historical vote, 45 legislators left him without the special jurisdiction that protected him from being prosecuted for the criminal case. The decision was taken by the Legislative Plenary at 6:33 p.m., after 31 congressmen agreed that the vote was going to be public, and after three days of intense deliberations.
The agreement that the vote was not secret prompted legislator Óscar López , from the Accessibility Party without Exclusion (PASE), to withdraw from the Plenary, as an act of protest, while Otto Guevara , from the Libertarian Movement, chose not to vote.
Most legislators welcomed the report of the special commission of the Congress. According to that report, between November 25th, 2015 and January 8th, 2016, Gamboa, being deputy head of the Public Ministry, used his position to obtain undue advantages in favor of Johnny Araya , mayor of San José.
According to the investigation that the General Prosecutor of the Republic sent to the Legislative Assembly, Gamboa presumably mediated to remove Araya from a criminal case that was processed in 2015.
Despite the magistrate’s arguments, the report approved by the legislators concluded that Gamboa’s case is not due to political persecution.
The file approved by the Plenary will now be sent to the Full Court to initiate the judicial process. The Legislative Assembly will also begin as soon as possible a procedure to revoke the appointment of the magistrate at the request of the Full Court.
This other request of the Court is due to an investigation against the magistrate for the cementazo case and the trip he made to Panama with Juan Carlos Bolaños , importer of the Chinese cement.