The experts assure that the president is guilty of “disobedience,” sanctioned in the Criminal Code.
Several constitutional lawyers explained to El Diario de Hoy that the prosecutor’s office has been called by law to enforce Constitutional compliance by President Nayib Bukele because he refused to comply with the Assembly’s mandate to take up the post of Director of Police. sack Mauricio Arriaza Girls.
“Everyone has to fulfill their duties, if the Assembly resolution says to fire the director of police and the president (Bukele) ignores it, then the other crime is disobedience, then the prosecution must assess whether that crime has occurred. and to manage the implementation of the Assembly’s resolution, it should be in the judicial body, ”said constitutional lawyer Francisco Bertrand Galindo.
He added that a whole process derives from this that arises as a result of the conflict between the two state organs: the Assembly and the Executive “can reach the Constitutional Chamber through the judicial channels available,” he said. .
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The crime of “disobedience” is contemplated in Article 322 of the Criminal Code, which states that: “The government official or employee, authority officer or government agency who openly refuses to punish, decide or order a superior issued within the scope of his / its authority and fulfilled by the legal formalities, will be punishable by imprisonment from six months to one year and banned from exercising the job or function for the same time ”.
In this regard, the criminal defense attorney, Marcela Galeas, also relates the obligation of the President of the Republic, enshrined in Article 236 of the Constitution, to be accountable to the Assembly for the “official and common crimes they commit,” through a preparatory procedure to withdraw jurisdiction.
Constitutional lawyer, René Hernández Valiente, said both Bukele and Arriaza Chicas want to be prosecuted. Bukele for “disobedience” and Arriaza Chicas for “usurpation of functions”.
“The appeal is addressed to the Prosecutor (Raúl Melara), if the Assembly has already decided and if the President is disobedient, the order itself has already been issued. In the case of Arriaza Chicas, he is no longer the director of the police and if he does not obey, he usurps public functions, there are sanctions, there it is up to the prosecutor, “said Hernández Valiente.
The attorney regretted that Bukele’s disobedience will make the country look bad in terms of international agreements, in fact, in her report, the Assembly relies on the Inter-American Democratic Charter of which El Salvador is a party to the Organization of American States (OAS).
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Hernández Valiente regretted that countries where totalitarian regimes rule are not complying with the provisions, with serious consequences, such as the “isolation” of said governments from aid and international cooperation programs.
“If the president of the republic ignores the constitution and ignores it when a program comes up, it has consequences for his isolation from international cooperation, it is extremely serious,” said Hernández Valiente, adding that if the prosecution does nothing, El Salvador a “constitutional crisis”.