The first lady Lilia Paredeswas presented last Friday, May 13, before the Public ministry to declare for alleged irregularities related to the thesis which he presented together with Republic President, peter castle, to obtain a master’s degree. However, walls refused to answer protected by the right to remain silent, the questions asked by the prosecutor Light Taquire.
Consequently, after submitting a report on what happened to the chief coordinating prosecutor Rafael Vela Beardhe decided file a complaint against the first lady for the alleged crime of obstruction of justice.
For the criminal lawyer Mario Amorettithis decision is questionable, if one takes into account that the witness can avail himself of silence in order not to respond in circumstances that may be detrimental to him.
“It is a bit questionable (the complaint from the Public Ministry); because, if they call me as a witness, I can keep silent in the sense that the questions that they can ask me can harm me. If she (Lilia Paredes) availed herself of this silence, I believe that she is legally empowered to do so, ”she told The Republic.
Likewise, he pointed out that the first lady should have indicated that she preferred to remain silent in each of the questions that the prosecutor asked.
“She is obliged to testify because she is summoned to expose facts that she knows or that she has knowledge of. But if she is going to be asked questions that could later compromise her as being investigated, once the question is asked, that is where she can remain silent. From the first moment she can not do it. She would have to listen to the question and say that she is silent, because the question could compromise her.”.
Amoretti he recalled that in accordance with article 165, paragraph 1, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, “the spouse of the accused may refrain from giving testimony.”
“Subsection 1 of article 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code can be applied because Paredes can state that he refuses to testify and this is a power. The judge has to accept this situation. I cannot give a statement when my spouse is being investigated for a criminal act because a statement is certainly not going to be impartial. What she should have stated was that he abstained. It is one thing to remain silent and another to refrain,” he explained.
Luis Lamas Puccio: “The investigated has the obligation to collaborate with justice”
in conversation with The Republicalso a criminal lawyer Luis Lamas Puccio indicated that, although a person under investigation may avail himself of the right to remain silent during an interrogation, it is not allowed for those who come as witnesses.
“I think the lady has been confused, because it is one thing to be investigated, investigated and/or to be a witness. The lady has not been charged. She has not been charged with anything. She has not been reported and is not being investigated for any crime. She is attending as a witness, in the sense that whether or not she would have attended a meeting, she would have heard something or seen a document. The witness is a person who is supposed to have witnessed an event that is being investigated and has the obligation to collaborate with justice. If you do not, you are committing the crime of omission to declare”, he explained.
