Guatemala’s authorities arrests one other former prosecutor

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GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s authorities arrested former prosecutor Orlando Salvador López on abuse-of-authority fees Thursday, the newest in a sequence of detentions seen as weakening anti-corruption efforts within the nation.

López was greatest recognized for having delivered to trial late dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt in 2013 for genocide dedicated towards Indigenous Guatemalans through the nation’s 1960-1996 civil battle. Ríos Montt was convicted and sentenced to 80 years, however the verdict was overturned on attraction.

López’s arrest, introduced Thursday, was the newest in a sequence of prosecutions of former prosecutors and investigators by the President Alejandro Giammattei.

The public prosecutor’s workplace claims López did work as a notary public and lawyer in 2019 at a time when he was employed as a prosecutor, one thing that’s not allowed in Guatemala.

The U.S. authorities has sharply criticized the weakening of anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala below Giammattei.

Some 30 judges, magistrates and prosecutors concerned within the investigation or processing of these corruption instances have been pressured to flee the nation after dealing with authorized motion from the present administration.

Juan Pappier, the performing deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, mentioned the arrest of López was a severe affront.

“His arrest is part of a pattern of prosecution against prosecutors and judges who investigated corruption and human rights abuses in the country,” Pappier mentioned.

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