Former Minister of Public Works and pre-candidate for the presidency from the Colorado faction linked to Mario Abdo Benítez, Arnoldo Wiens, rejected judge Humberto Otazú, the magistrate responsible for the criminal proceedings against him in the case known as Metrobús. The measure, presented on Tuesday, aims to halt the progress of the case.
Wiens is accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the crimes of breach of trust and damage to constructed works. The accusation maintains that the decisions made by him during his tenure at the ministry, between 2018 and 2023, caused a patrimonial loss to the state of approximately 15 billion guaranis. The case refers to the suspension of the works of the metrobús project in the Asunción Metropolitan Area, initially conducted by the Portuguese company Mota-Engil, and the subsequent order to destroy partially constructed bus stations.
In contrast, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of the case against Ramón Jiménez Gaona, Wiens' predecessor at the ministry during the government of Horacio Cartes (2013-2018), under whose administration the project began.
In the rejection request, Wiens' defense argues that there is "reasonable doubt" about judge Otazú's impartiality. It alleges that the magistrate allowed the accusation to be presented early, on August 11, before the officially established deadline of August 16, and before the decision on a request for abbreviated deadlines made by the prosecution itself. Wiens also criticizes the fact that the judge gave procedural effect to the accusation while other appeals from his defense, such as a request to dismiss the criminal action, were still pending analysis – a request that was later rejected by Otazú.
In addition to rejecting the judge, Wiens also challenged, last week, the resolution of the Public Prosecutor's Office that maintained prosecutors Giovanni Grisetti, Nathalia Silva, and Yeimy Adle as representatives of the accusation in the case.