20 In addition, the expert witness deemed that “repealing or declaring the amnesty law null through an act of the legislature may pose bigger legal obstacles than relying on the courts’ interpretation that international rules should take precedence over domestic ones and should thus prevail in their application [...].” “In fact, even if the amnesty law were repealed or declared null, that would still not settle, at least on the domestic level, the conflict with the constitutional status rule that the most favorable law should be applied to the accused and that no accusation may be made or punishment meted out for acts committed before the criminal law became effective.” B) Testimony of Witnesses and Experts 72. On March 29 2006, the Court held a public hearing to receive the statements of the witnesses and expert witnesses proposed by the parties (supra para. 28). The Court shall now summarize such witness statements and expert opinions. a) Statement of Elvira Gómez-Olivares, Luis Alfredo AlmonacidArellano’s wife, witness proposed by the representative According to the witness, “on September 14, [1973] a patrol came to [her] home looking for [her] husband, who was not at home at that moment. They searched [the] house […] and pointed a gun [at her]. [She] was eight months and a half pregnant. They searched all over the place and left.” “On [September] 16, [1973] at eleven in the morning, [her husband] went home to see [her], as he was not living [there] for safety reasons. [At about] half past eleven in the morning a patrol came for him[.] The police pushed him out of the house, without even letting him put his coat on, and took him away […]. He went nervously with his hands held up as the police pushed him. [Her] husband wore eyeglasses. [Upon reaching] the corner of the street […], [she] saw in the tumult that [her] husband stumbled and tried to catch his glasses, which were about to drop, and [she] felt the hail of machine gun fire […]. It was two police officers who were with him at that time. He fell, severely wounded, but he was alive; [the witness] went to his aid, [she] hesitated; [her] two-year-old son was coming behind [her], and [she] reached him to [her] nine-year-old son, who was coming behind him, so that he would take him inside.” The witness tried to get near Mr. Almonacid, “but [she] was discouraged by the expression in the face of the lieutenant who was with him holding a machine gun, so [she] stood two meters away from him against a wall, to see what they did to [Mr. Almonacid]. The sergeant went for a truck. They brought it. [...] They took [Mr. Almonacid] like a bag of potatoes and threw him onto it. They got on the truck. Afterwards, several other police officers arrived [...] and took him to hospital[.] He was operated [...], but died the next day.” “At the very moment [her] husband was shot, [she] suffered a placental abruption, and [her] child also died.” Following the death of Mr. Almonacid-Arellano, her “whole family was destroyed, because [her] brothers lost their jobs; [her] eldest brother, who was the family’s breadwinner, was exiled; and […] [she] was being watched all day, every day.” She was summoned once by the Criminal Court, but she has never been summoned by the Military Prosecutor’s Office; nor has the Defense Council of the State offered