San Jose, Aug 1 (EFE) Costa Rican prosecutors have sought a 24-year jail term for former president Rafael Angel Calderon who is facing a corruption charge, officials said.

The case involves commissions worth $8 million from a $39.5 million loan the country's C.C.S.S. health services agency obtained in 2002 from the Finland government for purchase of medical equipments from a Finnish company. The Costa Rican Congress approved the loan in 2001.

Calderon and seven others are implicated in the case.

Calderon, who was in power from 1990 to 1994, and has been campaigning to return to the presidency, said Friday the trial, which began last November, was politically motivated.

He is the first ex-president to be put on trial in the country.