QCOSTARICA – Costa Rica is “on the verge” that its prosecutors and judges are killed by organized crime, as is the case in neighbouring countries in Central America and Mexico, said the Attorney General, Jorge Chavarria, on Wednesday on the Nuestra Voz radio program.
The Attorney General explained that the growth in organized crime and the impact on corruption of public entities in the country is one the main concerns, after meeting with Pope Francis last Friday at the international Judges’ Summit on Human Trafficking and Organized Crime.
Chavarria explained that the lack of budget of the Fiscalia (Prosecutor’s Office) limits its range of action in the fight against drug trafficking.
“It’s very difficult to tell the country that we will succeed with four police officers and a prosecutor in the northern border fighting drug trafficking,” he added.
According Chavarria, the Pontiff made a call to more than 150 officials from around the world, for prosecutors and judges to remain free from pressure from governments, private institutions, corruption and the “web” of organized crime.
Following the summit, Pope Francis denounced in Evangelii Gaudium and Laudato si’ “the globalized society seeking profit above all else — producing a ‘throwaway culture”, that has generated innumerable marginalized and excluded people.