Military Before Supreme Court Thursday

The five generals charged with abuse of authority and illegal extradition by the Public Prosecutor must appear before Justice Jorge Rivera Aviles on Thursday, after which he will decide whether to accept the charges or not. They are scheduled to appear at 2:30 or 3 pm. Because of security concerns, the place they are to meet was not specified by the judge.

"Because of the scope of the audience and because of security concerns, and the shared interests of the parties that will participate and the comfort of those charged, it should be a place that brings together the physical conditions to hold the hearing," said Juan Carlos Sanchez Cantillano, a defense attorney.

In an interview with El Heraldo published today, Romeo Vásquez Velásquez declined to comment on the charges.

Justice Jorge Rivera Aviles gave an interview on the program Grado 33 of Globovision of Venezuela on July 3 in which he said the capture of Zelaya was by a legitimate Supreme Court order, but that the forced exile was a necessity of the time and situation, but was not ordered by the Court. He said of Zelaya "he was disobeying the orders of the court, and that's a crime." How is it less of a crime for the Military to disobey the order of the court? He changed his mind in an interview published in La Tribuna on July 16:

"The expulsion was not ordered in the detention order and because of this we have to look at the necessities at this time, if it was the suitable thing to do, both for the life of the person detained and for national security....we'll have to weigh this later on, once its before the court."

Justice Rivera was also on the commission that nominated the Public Prosecutor, Luis Rubi, in February 2009. Given his interest in the appointment of Rubi, and that he has already pronounced publicly on the facts of the case before him, he should recuse himself, but I won't hold my breath.