The judiciary is compensating the instructor who was by chance taken off the airplane for not paying baby assist

QCOSTARICA – A PhysEd teacher managed to get the judiciary to agree to pay him a little over 1.2 million colones ($ 2,000) to get off a plane because of an error with alimony payments.

The police checkpoint at Juan Santamaria (San Jose Airport_)

This case dates back to February 2016, and it wasn’t until February of its year, five years later, that the Board of Governors agreed to acknowledge the harm done to the teacher.

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“It was a heartbreaking situation. Everyone is staring at you, but the hardest part was gaining credibility with your spouse. Who will expect that? At that time I was a physical education teacher in Suerre and the first thing that occurred to my wife was that I had been unfaithful, ”recalls the teacher, who now works in a school in Pococí, Limón.

The couple were on vacation in Cancun, Mexico.

On the morning of February 4, 2016, they were on a plane at Juan Santamaría Airport in Alajuela when two immigration officers came in and took the man off the plane because he had an “Impedimento de Salida” (disembarkation obstacle) paying alimony.

After several hours of phone calls, the teacher was able to prove that he was not the person with the maintenance obligation, but a third party.

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The mistake had been made since 2013 by a judicial officer who had entered the teacher’s cedula number on another man’s record on alimony.

On that day in February, Teacher’s wife got off the plane to learn more about what happened to her husband.

After the bug was fixed, the now 37-year-old teacher and his 36-year-old wife were able to leave the country on another flight that departed shortly before midnight that same day.

“Obviously the trip was not the same. The perspectives have changed a lot. Even though they told us, “You have the right to go,” there’s that little thorn in the side. I was very angry and my wife doubted if I was really being unfaithful, ”added the teacher, who preferred to remain anonymous.

On his return to the country, the teacher sued the judiciary in a controversial case, demanding recognition of the payment of the additional plane tickets and the damage caused.

On October 30, 2020, the controversial administrative and civil court approved him. The judiciary was ordered to pay him “230,909 colones for property damage, which is the additional cost of plane tickets plus interest (…) and 500,000 ¢ for each person for a total of one million colones”.

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“My attorney told me it was won, that it was resolved after so long, but economically, I didn’t get a single colon. I don’t know if I have to get it or what, ”the teacher said in an interview with La Nación.

Similar cases

The teacher’s experience was neither the first nor the last. Dozens of travelers have been flown off planes due to identity errors. Not all for subsistence, although most of the barriers to leaving the country are for it.

And not just for men.

Women have also experienced the nightmare of being taken off a plane for not paying child support.

Patricia Carrera was one such woman who, with Jorge Carvajal, had planned a week and a half trip to Connecticut, New York, and Washington.

She was taken off the plane because she mistakenly had an alimony barrier. The incident occurred at San Jose Airport in September 2016.

According to Carrera, they were already in their seat that day with their seat belts buckled when she heard her name being called over the loudspeaker.

“I went and an immigration officer was waiting for me to ask for my passport. He told me that I couldn’t take off and had to get off the plane. I told him, “What’s wrong?” And he replied, “Here is the document, it’s a maintenance claim.” I insisted it couldn’t be possible, I don’t even have kids, but he told me there was nothing he could do, ”commented Carrera.

She was allowed to return to the plane in custody, but was allowed to tell her husband that she had to get off.

Why is this happening?

In Costa Rica, before leaving the country by land, sea or air, a review of the judicial system is carried out to see if there are any registered barriers to leaving the country against a person.

As a rule, obstacles in criminal cases are registered, that is, until a court appears or the release condition is present in a criminal investigation. And maintenance, “pensión alimentaria” in Spanish.

For example, the person should be stopped at the front line police checkpoint in airports. However, as it turns out, in most cases, judicial control is not carried out after the person has passed the security check, got on the plane and waited for take-off.

This check is also the reason for the delays when a “system failure” occurs at the airport, such as on April 28th when the “checks” not only on maintenance and other obstacles in the country, but also on Interpol arrest warrants are made manually become.

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