Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra sentenced to five years in prison
LaHora now reports: “The former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) in Quetzaltenango, Virginia Laparra, was convicted of the crime of disclosure of confidential or reserved information to a sentence of 5 years in prison commutable at the rate of Q5 per day and a fine of Q50 thousand in addition to disqualification from holding public office for a period of 10 years.”
That article also notes: “Laparra was [also previously] sentenced in December 2022 by the Eighth Criminal Court to 4 years in prison commutable for the crime of continuous abuse of authority, after she filed a complaint against the current rapporteur against torture, Lesther Castellanos. …To date, the defense of the former prosecutor filed an appeal for cassation with which they are still seeking to reverse the decision, so a response is expected from the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).”
EP Investiga further reports: “This is the second case in which the Quetzaltec lawyer has been convicted. In December 2022, she was sentenced to four years in prison, commutable for the crime of continuous abuse of authority. This case was due to an administrative complaint he filed against Castellanos. …Laparra’s legal team will analyze the next steps to be taken in the process [in this most recent case] and will define whether [this new] sentence will be appealed. Meanwhile, the dignified reparation hearing will be next Thursday, July 11.”
PBI-Guatemala
Prior to this sentencing, PBI-Guatemala posted this image and text:
#VirginiaLaparra’s fight for a fairer Guatemala is a light in the midst of darkness and corruption.
We demand #JusticeForVirginia #NoMoreCriminalization
“The case is a revenge to guarantee impunity”
Reactions
Prensa Comunitaria reports: “[Maya Q’eqchi’] water defender Bernardo Caal, who was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, came to the city of Quetzaltenango to express his solidarity. ‘She is an example to follow in the fight against corruption, even if this system says otherwise,’ he said.”
After the sentencing, UDEFEGUA also posted: “We express our rejection of the sentence issued against Virginia Laparra, for constituting a profound violation of the guarantee that prosecutors must have from the Guatemalan State. Our solidarity with Virginia and her family.”
The Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network also tweeted: “We continue to demand justice for Virginia Laparra and an end to the ongoing misuse of the justice system to criminalize justice operators and #HRDs [human rights defenders].”
And Erika Guevara Rosas at Amnesty International commented: “#VirginiaLaparra has been sentenced to 5 years of commutable prison for the crime of revealing information. Virginia has been a prisoner of conscience only for her fight against impunity and corruption in #Guatemala. We continue to demand an end to the criminalization against them.”
Background
On December 16, 2022, Laparra was sentenced to four years in prison for the alleged crime of ongoing abuse of authority.
Amnesty International expressed its dismay at this conviction “based on the court’s analysis that the then prosecutor committed a crime solely by initiating an administrative lawsuit accusing a judge of corruption.”
This four year sentence is under challenge before the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), so it is not yet final.
Additionally, on October 19, 2022, while Laparra was in jail during the case noted above, a second arrest warrant was issued against her related to another criminal complaint filed by the same judge Laparra had previously accused of corruption.
Several news articles name this judge as Lesther Castellanos.
Journalists Jody García and Nina Lakhani have commented in The Guardian the “the country’s ruling elite [is pursuing] a strategy to purge the justice system and derail corruption investigations against their allies.”
Juan Francisco Sandoval, the former director of Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity, who had to flee Guatemala in July 2021, told the Guardian: “It’s a clear message from the political and economic power brokers that never again should corruption cases be investigated – or the consequences will be prison or exile.”
Multiple organizations, including Lawyers Without Borders Canada and Impunity Watch, have condemned “the continued criminal harassment of the former prosecutor in retaliation for her anti-corruption work.”
Amnesty International has also called for “an immediate end to the misuse of the criminal justice system to harass, intimidate and punish judges, prosecutors, human rights defenders and journalists”.
At least 29 judicial officials have left the country in recent years for fear of being the target of criminal prosecutions
We continue to follow this.
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