Q COSTA RICA — The Juzgado Penal de Pavas (Pavas Criminal Court) has closed the complaint filed by Laura Fernández, then a presidential candidate for the Partido Pueblo Soberano (PPSO), over an alleged listening device found in her campaign office.
The Court accepted a request by the Ministerio Público (Public Prosecutor’s Office) to dismiss the case. Prosecutors submitted that request on May 6, 2026, the judiciary’s press department confirmed, according to La Nación.
The complaint was dated October 2025, when Fernández publicly reported that a suspected surveillance device—bug—had been found at a PPSO property in Rohrmoser, San José. She said a specialized security team had detected what appeared to be a microphone hidden in a wall outlet at her office and that the discovery prompted the party to apply a security protocol.
What the decision means
The court’s decision closes this particular criminal complaint following prosecutors’ request for dismissal. The report does not say that the court determined whether a device was present, who might have placed it, or whether anyone was surveilled. Nor does it describe the evidentiary basis for the prosecutors’ request.
That distinction matters. The allegation was publicly made, but the account available here does not establish that espionage occurred. Archiving the complaint ends the proceeding as reported; it should not be read as proof either that the alleged device was real or that the concern was fabricated.
The episode also reflects how a claim of surveillance can become politically charged during a campaign.
In the absence of further disclosed findings, the clearest confirmed facts are procedural: Fernández made the complaint in October 2025, prosecutors later asked for it to be dismissed, and the Pavas court accepted that request.