I was asked by Board Mail several times - also from Europe - to give a short statement on the state of the legal proceedings.
I take the time and do this with pleasure. Therefore, I will now explain to you in a completely balanced and neutral way the difference between criminal proceedings at the criminal court and administrative criminal proceedings at the administrative court. Because that is exactly what is currently at stake.
a) Criminal proceedings
The basis for this is the indictment with the required penalty. Prepared by the public prosecutor's office. This is submitted to the criminal court. In the Aznalcollar proceedings, the competent public prosecutor's office has examined the alleged criminal facts 5 times - and decided each time: there is no criminal conduct in the award of Aznalcollar.
b) Administrative criminal proceedings
The prosecutor's office has refused to open criminal proceedings. In order for a guilty verdict to be reached despite the prosecutor's refusal, Emerita Resources therefore drafted a brief via the Instruction Judge for the attention of the Administrative Court. In this pleading, the alleged criminal offenses are listed and a simultaneous request for several years imprisonment was made.
Now it is necessary to know that before the Administrative Court the prosecutors and the defendants are on the same level, Emerita Resources has no more rights. In addition, the presumption of innocence also applies here before the administrative court.
If up to 19 years of imprisonment are demanded, the proceedings cannot be settled in a few weeks. The defendants have rights and, if convicted, they can appeal the sentence to the next higher instance.
Important to know: In the first part, the only issue before the administrative court is to clarify whether there is criminal conduct. For Emerita Resources, this process is central, because an automatic award - transfer Aznalcollar to the second best candidate (EMO) - requires a guilty verdict.
If the Administrative Tribunal indeed concludes that the defendants should be convicted, then the Prosecutor's Office MUST - despite its refusal - open criminal proceedings in the Criminal Court.
After the verdict of the administrative court, the 2nd part will then be heard in court: Awarded of Aznalcollar to Emerita Resources. It should be noted that the Administrative Court judge refused to stop the work of reopening the mine by Groupo Mexico; they continue to work.
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