This Tuesday, September 3, the initial hearing will be held in the judicial process against Edward Gaitán Gallegos, 21, for the murder of his paternal brother, Ollman Ariel Gaitán Medina, seven years old, a tragic case that filled with pain both the family of the murdered child and the accused, in which the phases of due process and the right to defense have been respected, something that has not occurred in any of the cases of scientific prisoners.
On August 19, in the municipality of Catarina, in the department of Masaya, the child Ollman Ariel, who had been reported missing since the afternoon of the previous day, was found lifeless, hidden under a bed. His body was hidden in the room of his older brother, who from that moment on became the main “suspect,” as reported by the Police of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the service of the regime began its investigative work and shortly before 48 hours after the suspect’s arrest, it filed charges before a competent judge, who in this case was María Vargas Vidaurre, of the Criminal District Court of Masaya, who in turn heard interventions from the prosecutor of the case and the defense, initially in charge of the Public Defender’s Office.
At the hearing, the judge accepted the request of the biological mother of the accused, Ana Giselle Gallegos, to be granted a change of defense attorney and to appoint a private defense attorney. The judge granted the request, as required by the country’s criminal laws.
Related news: Hollman Gaitán, a boy reported missing in Catarina, found dead
The prosecution claims to have all the evidence to prove the guilt of the accused, while the defense will try to overturn or at least mitigate the sentence for its client. This is required by the Criminal Procedure Law.
The prosecution has testimony from Martha Yanixza Medina, the victim’s mother, and from Ollman Enrique Gaitán Cortés, the father.
The perversity of the Dictatorship against political prisoners is evident
The judge accepted the request of the accused’s mother and authorized the change of defense, which will now be assumed by the lawyer Ricardo Antonio Flores González, and also attended to a request for an interview by the new defense attorney with his client, in La Modelo.
In the midst of the tragedy that surrounds the family of the child victim, nothing that develops in the judicial process would be noteworthy in a news story if it were not for the fact that the process once again reveals the “double standards” of justice at the service of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and at the same time the perversity of the tyrants against prisoners of conscience, when it comes to cases due to their political position.
A Nicaraguan lawyer, consulted by Article 66who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said that the “double standard” or preferential or “harsh” treatment by judges towards some defendants has always existed, but the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has taken it to exponential levels when it comes to political prisoners, whom they “treat with hatred and cruelty.”
According to the jurist, who has been litigating in Nicaraguan courts for more than 20 years, all litigating lawyers know that in Nicaragua the laws are “dead letter” and everything depends on how the regime sees you and they can allow the judge to apply, not double standards, but “triple standards”: treat you with preferences, strictly adhere to the law or simply apply the hatred with which they have treated opponents.
Related news: Catarina attends the burial of the minor Hollman Ariel Gaitán, murdered by his stepbrother
“For example, no prisoner of conscience has been brought before a judge within 48 hours of his capture, and the principle of forced disappearance has been applied to him; no one has been allowed a defense attorney of his confidence, much less an interview with defense attorneys subordinate to the Government, and publicity of the case has not been allowed, as established by law,” recalled the jurist.
The criminal lawyer added that, in the case of judges, many of them are enjoying the power that the dictatorship has allowed them to condemn political prisoners, but other judicial officials feel held hostage by that power because they know they will be violating the law.
«Look, in the corridors of the courts nationwide no one dares to speak, but what some of us were able to comment on is that many judges feel like hostages of the regime. For example, in the case of the child from Catarina, there the judiciary is enjoying a certain autonomy to apply the law as appropriate, but if the regime shows a little interest in the case, the judge will have no more than to follow orders, not even consult the codes,» said the lawyer.
Defense could plead “insanity”
The lawyer who spoke to this media outlet, recalled that private defense is fully established in the Law and never before had a government prohibited it as in political cases in the country.
Returning to the case of the child murdered in Catarina, which has caused consternation among the population, due to the cruelty with which it was committed and the age of the victim, the jurist noted that the suspect’s new defense could direct its defense strategy towards a possible declaration of “insanity” of the accused, since from his first intervention, the public defender insisted on asking if the accused understood the facts of which he is accused and why he is being declared in preventive detention, to which the accused responded that he knew nothing.
According to the lawyer, this would be giving rise to a possible defense strategy. The new defense attorney has already requested an interview with his client and has made his request that the temporary classification of the crime be changed from “aggravated parricide” to “simple parricide.”
