Q COSTARICA — After asserting that he would never pay a company to conduct a polygraph test, Attorney General Carlo Díaz hinted at his distrust of the tests the government has administered to members of the Fuerza Élite (Elite Force) group, which culminated in the dismissal of seven high-ranking police officials.
The Attorney General stated that, in his case, he would only trust a test conducted by the DEA or the FBI in the United States.
The Attorney General addressed the issue before the members of the Comisión de Seguridad y Narcotráfico (Security and Drug Trafficking Legislative Committee), where he confirmed his preference to remain uninvolved with President Fernández’s Elite Force.
“I have nothing to hide, I have nothing to fear, and what I want is for it to be done under the same conditions, not by paying a company. I would never pay a company to manipulate evidence and then have me implicated.
“I have nothing to question. I’ve been under attack for four years, and I know they’ve searched high and low and done everything possible to tarnish my image, and they continue to do so.
“When she (Laura Fernández), the ministers, and everyone involved submit to a standardized test, I will take it. I have no problem with that. When we all submit to a test administered by a reputable organization like the DEA or the FBI, I will,” Díaz stated, after legislator Fernando Obaldía, of the ruling party, Partido Pueblo Soberano (PPSO), questioned him about it.
“Are you afraid of the results of that polygraph test, or is it simply because you do not want to take it? Is it out of pride, or for some other reason?” the Chavista legislator asked.
Díaz emphasized to the Commission that he has been a prosecutor for 28 years and asserted that he has never received a bribe nor had any ties to drug trafficking or organized crime.
“I have been under attack for (the last) four years, and I know they have sought me out, they have dug deep, they have done everything possible to see how they can tarnish my image, and they continue to do so. Some things are simply vanity, which doesn’t concern me in the slightest, and other things that, as I said, I am willing to submit to at any time; not with a private company, I won’t do it that way,” the Attorney General told the members of the Commission.
The Attorney General questioned the government’s decision to use a private company for polygraph testing, arguing that it raises concerns about the possibility of the tests being manipulated to favor one interest or another.
In a similar vein, the interim director of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), Michael Soto, took the test privately and presented the results to the government to attend these Elite Force meetings.
Since the election campaign, Fernández has argued that this is a filter to guarantee that organized crime does not infiltrate the upper echelons of government and that it also ensures that high-ranking officials are honest in matters such as corruption and drug trafficking.