Throughout the world, arresting anyone without legal warrants is considered a misuse of power by police or any other authority with the powers of arrest of seizure and this unfortunate event has taken place in El-Salvador where a person, apparently criticizing and protesting against the notorious “Bitcoin Legal Tender” was arrested and detailed even in the absence of any warrants. The objective behind his detainment was obviously for lowering his voice which was causing unrest for the country and its President.
The Liberty of a person is the most sacred thing and this is why the constitutions of the entire world safeguard this sacred right. On humanitarian grounds as well, this right should not be curtailed or infringed by anyone, especially by the law itself. Generally, this right is curtailed when there is a need to arrest someone involved in a crime or the person is a criminal. However, even in such a situation, there are certain pre-conditions that are to be fulfilled before taking away somebody’s liberty.
The worldwide law is that police or even law enforcement agencies can arrest anyone in the absence of legal warrants. If a person is arrested without a legal warrant then it is considered a misuse of power and abrogation of the law. This is exactly what has happened recently in El-Salvador.
Mario Gomez is an unfortunate person who had been arrested by the local police on 1st September 2021. By profession, he is a businessman and IT specialist who owns a business namely Hackerspace San Salvador. He was thereafter detained without even informing his family. Gomez repeatedly told the policemen who came to arrest him that they cannot detain him without any warrants of arrest. However, the policemen did not pay any heed to his appeals and grabbed him and took him away, told his attorney. His attorney further informed that his client was denied the due process of law which and had been arrested without warrants and any cause.
The attorney then claimed the authorities have misused and abused the process of law by abrogating the most sacred right of a person. He claimed that his client’s freedom was being taken away illegally by the police at the best of the Government. Miscarriage of justice has been caused and therefore he would seek court redressal against such an action, threatened Gomez’s attorney.
Upon probing the cause of arrest, it was found that Gomez was amongst those going against the will of the present government. Since when the Government has granted legal tender to Bitcoin, Gomez was actively criticizing the initiative. He took his criticism to next level when he publicly started protested against the Government and its initiative. It could be ascertained therefore that the cause of his arrest is to lower his voice which was attracting attention.
Meanwhile, Gomez also reaffirmed his stance on the initiative. He said that this is wrong that he doesn’t like Bitcoin, in fact, he admires it. However, he is against Bitcoin’s legal tender which is against the people of El-Salvador.
