A commission of the United Nations Human Rights Council pointed out this Tuesday that the detention of the former Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra is “arbitrary” and asked the Government of Guatemala to “release her”.
According to an analysis by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Guatemalan judicial bodies “have not justified” that it is necessary to keep Laparra in prison, after 15 months from his arrest.
Read also: Court will give its verdict this week against the journalist José Rubén Zamora
According to this commission, Laparra is detained “for exercising their rights and fundamental freedoms”.
On December 16, the Guatemalan lawyer was sentenced for an alleged “abuse of power”. This after having denounced former judge Lesther Castellanos for revealing confidential information in a case he was in charge of in 2018.
Although Laparra was sentenced to four commutable years in prison, she remains in jail due to a second criminal proceeding against her.
We hope that the Guatemalan courts comply with the resolution of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of the #HER and order the release of #VirginiaLaparra
Virginia can face the pending processes in freedom. There are no reasonable grounds for her to remain in prison. pic.twitter.com/DCDRw9o06t
— Impunity Watch in Spanish (@ImpunityWatchGt) June 13, 2023
Virginia Laparra
The former prosecutor was head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), in Quetzaltenango, in the northwest of the country, where she investigated large-scale corruption networks.
According to Laparra’s lawyers, the former prosecutor has suffered a serious deterioration in her health during the 15 months she has spent in prison. The United Nations commission demanded that the State of Guatemala “his release”as well as “dignified reparation measures”.
The United Nations entity concludes that the State of Guatemala must investigate the circumstances in which Laparra was imprisoned. Also start a process against those responsible.
Between 2018 and 2022, at least 24 Guatemalan judges and prosecutors went into exile in the United States after denouncing a criminal prosecution against them for having investigated or tried figures linked to corruption, especially former officials, presidents, and high-profile businessmen.
The foreign minister, Mario Búcaro, this Tuesday offers a press conference in which they respond to the United Nations Arbitrary Detention Working Group that pointed out irregularities in the detention process of former prosecutor Virginia Laparra. pic.twitter.com/B7RrJvZtHn
— Edwin Peter (@Epitan_PL) June 13, 2023
