The Supreme Court of Justice Hostage Crisis was a 1993 attack in which five gunmen from a group calling itself the "Death Commando" group took over the Costa Rican Supreme Court in San José on April 26 and held 19 supreme court judges (magistrates) and five administrative employees as

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refr ...

s. Four days later, after lengthy negotiations, the 24 hostages were freed and the members of the "Death Commando" were taken to an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

where they were going to take an

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurat ...

that would take them to Guatemala. The hostage-takers were captured in a spectacular raid before they were able to board the aircraft. While early suspicions had existed that they were Colombian guerrillas, it transpired that they were actually Costa Ricans and that one of them wanted money for a liver transplant.Adventure Guide to Costa Rica, p. 71
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