The Court of Appeal of Criminal Sentence (Tribunal de Apelación de Sentencia Penal) on Tuesday revoked the release from jail to house arrest of Juan Carlos Bolaños, the key figure in the Chinese cement import scandal, the “Cementazo”.
Bolaños will have to continue in preventive detention (remand) for six more months, until November 3.
On Monday, a criminal court accepted the argument by defense lawyer to allow Bolaños to leave jail and be under house arrest and wear an ankle bracelet, while the Ministerio Publico (Prosecutor’s Office) continues its investigation in the case.
The Office of the Prosecutor made the announcement at 6:40 pm Tuesday through Facebook.
“The Attorney General’s Office confirms that the Court of Appeals of the Second Judicial Circuit of San José accepted this afternoon the request to extend the preventive detention of the accused Bolaños Rojas for another six months.
“The extension applies from May 3 to November 3, 2019.”
Fernando Vargas, one of the lawyers for Bolaños, said last night he was “astonished” at the reversal and accuses the Prosecutor’s Office of harassment against his client.
The lawyer said the strategy is to continue to fight to get his client out of jail and under house arrest so that his client can have the badly needed knee surgery.
