non-compliance with Article 8 (2) (h) constitutes a violation of his right to life because of arbitrary denial of freedom. 37. The petitioner alleges a number of violations of due process in the handling of the criminal case whose outcome was his conviction42. 38. With regard to the requirement in the Convention that domestic remedies be exhausted, he alleges that in Costa Rica there is no simple remedy for a violation of Article 8 (2) (h) of the Convention, for which reason, the exception in Article 46 of the Convention applies, and the six-month deadline should not be taken into account.However, he indicates that he filed an appeal against the conviction, which was denied. He indicates that no comprehensive examination of the judgment was carried out, but rather that the verdict merely examined the defense complaints43.He also indicates that subsequent to Law No. 8.503, he filed a petition for review in which he requested that a comprehensive examination of the judgment be carried out, but it was denied, and he was advised that he should identify the procedural irregularities that were causing him injury44. Petition 1083-06: Jorge Alberto Martínez Meléndez 39. It appears from the petition that Mr. Jorge Alberto Martínez Meléndez was sentenced by the Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San José, in judgment No. 680-2007 of July 17, 2007, to nineteen years’ imprisonment for twelve crimes of embezzlement against the State of Costa Rica45. The petitioners allege violation of Articles 5.6, 7 subparagraphs 1, 3 and 5, 8.2 and 22.7 of the American Convention and of Articles XVII and XXV of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. 40. The petitioners allege a number of violations in the criminal proceedings that ended with the judgment that convicted the alleged victim46.The specific allegations include the claim that he was arbitrarily held in preventive detention. They state that the maximum length of preventive detention for complex cases [trámite complejo] is thirty-six months, and that this period ended on June 3, 2006, without the application of legal exceptions to his case 47. They state that on June 2, 2006, the Trial Court ordered an indefinite extension of his preventive detention until such time as the judgment was handed down.They say that following the judgment in the first instance, preventive detention was extended twice. 41. They also allege that under Article 22.7 of the American Convention, every person “has the right to seek and be granted asylum”.However, they say that the State compared the alleged victim’s request to Canada for political asylum to an act of evasion of justice, and that that caused him serious consequences, both in the determination of preventive detention and in his criminal conviction.They maintain that the alleged victim did not flee, but rather exercised his right under the Convention to seek asylum. 42 The petitioner alleges violation of the principle of the rule of law in the rules on criminal offenses related to sexual crimes. He also claims that the judgments were not delivered to him in written form, but rather on CD, which made it difficult for him to access them. 43 Notification was given of the case on January 26, 2004. 44 He indicates that he can neither read nor write the official language of Costa Rica, and that it is improper to demand that he indicate the grounds for injury in a review petition, because the comprehensive examination should be carried out by the court. 45 When the petition was filed with the IACHR on October 11, 2006, the criminal proceedings against Mr. Martínez Meléndez were still in process. 46 The petitioners indicate that the criminal case was handled according to the procedural rules for “complex cases”. They argue that Article 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure –on complex cases-, sets a maximum period of preventive detention at 18 months, which may be extended for an additional 18 months, and that Article 258 of that Code provides for exceptions that are not applicable to the assumptions in the case against Mr. Martínez Meléndez. 47 9