The bullets that killed the police officers disappeared, but not in the offices of Fidel Araujo but in a compound guarded by forces loyal to the Dictatorship. To show that on September 30 he was not wearing an armored vest, Araujo donned one in front of his Judges and then put on the same shirt he was wearing that day. His accusers had to blush at the obvious demonstration that armored vests simply cannot be hidden. I could go on but we’re short on space. However, since the Dictator understood that he must go back on his ghost story, I offer him a way out: it is not a pardon that he must process but an amnesty in the National Assembly. Amnesty is not a pardon, it is legal oblivion. It would imply, if it is resolved, that society came to the conclusion that too many stupidities were committed on September 30, on both sides, and that it would be unfair to condemn some and reward others. Why was the Dictator able to propose an amnesty for the "bigwigs" Gustavo Noboa and Alberto Dahik, but instead he wants to pardon the "cholos" (“mestizo”) police? The Dictator should remember, finally, and this is very important, that with a pardon, in the future, a new president, perhaps his enemy, could bring him before a criminal court for having given the order to fire at will and without warning against a hospital full of civilians and innocent people. Crimes against humanity, don’t forget, have no statute of limitations. 75 D. The legal authority” proceedings for “serious slanderous insult against 57. On March 21, 2011, the then President filed a complaint, which fell to the Fifteenth Court of Criminal Guarantees of Guayas (hereinafter “Fifteenth Court”), against Emilio Palacio Urrutia, Carlos Nicolás Pérez Lapentti, César Enrique Pérez Barriga and Carlos Eduardo Pérez Barriga, for the criminal offense of "serious slanderous insult against authority", provided for in Articles 489 76 and 490 77 of the Criminal Code, in accordance with Articles 491 78 and 493 79 of the same Code, as well as against El Universo Limited Article “NO to lies” (“NO a las mentiras”) published in the El Universo newspaper on February 6, 2011 (evidence file, folios 4555 and 4556). 75 76 Art. 489. Insult is: slanderous, when it comprises the false imputation of a crime; and, not slanderous, when it comprises any other expression uttered in discredit, dishonor, or disparagement of another person, or in any action executed for the same purpose. 77 Art. 490. Non-slanderous insults are serious or minor: serious are: 1. The imputation of a vice or lack of morality whose consequences can considerably harm the fame, credit, or interests of the aggrieved party; 2. The accusations that, due to their nature, occasion or circumstance, were held in the public concept as outrageous; 3. imputations that rationally deserve the classification of serious, given the state, dignity, and circumstances of the victim and the offender and 4. Slaps, kicks, or other insults of act. Those that consist of attributing to another, facts, nicknames or physical or moral defects that do not compromise the honor of the injured party are minor. 78 Art. 491. the convicted offender of slanderous insult shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine of six to twenty-five United States dollars, when the accusations have been made: In meetings of public places; In the presence of ten or more individuals; by means of written texts, printed or not, images or emblems fixed, distributed, or sold, offered for sale, or exposed to the eyes of the public; or, by means of unpublished written text, but directed to or communicated to other persons, including letters among these. 79 Art. 493. They shall be punished with one to three years of imprisonment and a fine of six to twentyfive United States dollars, those that have addressed to the authority accusations that constitute slanderous insult. If the accusations made to the authority constitute non-slanderous but serious insults, the penalties shall be imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine of six to nineteen United States dollars. 22