Participación Ciudadana commends the present administration for the new team at the Attorney General Office that has begun to prosecute corruption in government. Nevertheless, Diario Libre newspaper executive editor Ines Aizpun writes in the editorial on 17 December that the outcome will depend on the new team of prosecutors and whether or not they adequately prepare the cases.
The prosecutors face a formidable team of lawyers defending the former government officers and former government contractors that have accumulated incredible wealth and can pay for the best defense.
“Does the Public Prosecutor’s Office have sufficient personnel to bring to a successful conclusion the substantive trials of the corruption cases it is working on?,” writes Aizpún.
She points out that “the complexity of the files, the specialized expertise required in each of the cases, the teams of lawyers that the defendants are forming…. “
She recalls how the handling by the past Attorney General prosecutors of the Odebrecht bribes case has left “a feeling of uneasiness” in the public opinion. The continental corruption case ended here without any conviction because the prosecution poorly prepared it.
Writes Aizpún: “What if the trials for the Coral, Coral 5G, Pulpo, Caracol, Falcón cases… are not worked with the right teams? How many prosecutors, investigators, experts, advisors or specialists do each of them need? Do they have them? Is the intention, the courage, the determination of a team of young prosecutors enough to dismantle such sophisticated networks?
“Let’s hope (New Year’s wish) that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has everything it needs to do a job that must — the country needs it– end well.”
A back page editorial in the same newspaper insists that no one should tire of prosecuting corruption.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
17 December 2021