QCOSTARICA – The suspect in the massacre in Matapalo, Guanacaste may be tried in Costa Rica. According to a report by Today Nicaragua, on Monday, Nicaragua’s Supreme Court will be deciding if Adrian Salmeron Silva, will be extradited to Costa Rica or be tried in his country.
On Monday, under a strong police presence, Silva was escorted to the Supreme Court building in Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua, where he will undergo the procedures of law, including the assignment of counsel.
The alleged perpetrator of the murders in Matapalo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, was arrested by the Nicaragua’s National Police in the rural community of Las Mojarras, in San Francisco Libre, after his father called police.
Silva ran to his country, evading authorities, after committing the gruesome crime of killing five people, including three children, on Sunday February 14, 2016. The bodies were not discovered until Tuesday February 16.
Two children, a four year-old and seven month-old survived the attack, and are recovering at the Children’s hospital.
Nicaragua’s Constitution does not allow extradition of its citizens, but the Criminal Code allows for Nicaraguans to be tried in the country for crimes committed abroad.
Costa Rican authorities have submitted their findings and evidence to Nicaragua’s Fiscalia (prosecutor’s office) for Silva to be tried in the country.
Salmeron can only be legally extradited to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, if he waives his Constitutional Right as a Nicaraguan Citizen not to be extradited and agrees to be. Otherwise, he has to be tried in Nicaragua for the crimes committed in Costa Rica.