In addition, this court imposed the accessory prison sentences of 15 days for aggravated threats against Melisa Garbanzo and six months preventive detention from today to ensure the execution of the sentence imposed.
In the verdict, Judge Carlos Bogantes found that 20 years in prison corresponded to the qualified murder of Varela Rojas when it was proved that he acted with treason since Jerhy was held by two people, beaten and weakened when the convict shot him dead back, causing his death on February 24, 2020.
He also received two years in prison for illegally carrying a legal firearm to the detriment of Rivera and public safety.
In August 2022, at a meeting between the Inter-Agency Technical Table for the Consideration of Indigenous Affairs of the Ministry of Justice and the Region’s Multiethnic and Pluricultural Association, held at the Rogelio Fernández de Buenos Aires school in Puntarenas, Varela, Rojas confessed that he committed this crime would have.
Varela Rojas requested the floor and said that “there was a lot of talk in the Legislative Assembly about the Yehry Rivera case. I don’t know if you know: I was the one who killed him.
Regarding the sentence, the Coordinadora de Lucha Sur Sur (CLSS) of the indigenous peoples of this region of the country expressed in a press release its opposition to the minimum sentences imposed by the court. For this reason, she is waiting for an explanation of the reasons for this and for the relevant bodies of the judiciary to determine the criminal responsibilities corresponding to the false statements made by the defendant’s defense.
However, the CLSS called the ruling an important step against the impunity that prevails in the face of the numerous attacks and human rights violations that indigenous peoples are subjected to.
After noting that this court ruling affirms and demonstrates by whom violence, hatred and racism are perpetrated, the CLSS believes that there are still many pending cases, many free aggressors and many threats against these peoples who continue with shameful impunity .
The full reading of the verdict will take place on February 8, when they will announce the details of what the court has decided. jcm/ale