Arrest warrant issued for Otto Perez

Guatemalan President Otto Perez reacts during a news conference in Guatemala City in this 2013 file photo. Picture: Jorge Dan Lopez/Files

Guatemalan President Otto Perez reacts during a news conference in Guatemala City in this 2013 file photo. Picture: Jorge Dan Lopez/Files

Published Sep 3, 2015

Share

Guatemala City - A Guatemalan judge has issued a detention order for President Otto Perez, the attorney general’s office said on Wednesday, amid a graft scandal that has gutted his government and plunged Guatemala into chaos days before a presidential election.

Perez had his immunity from prosecution stripped by lawmakers on Tuesday in a fast-moving climax to a crisis that has roiled Guatemala for months.

The 64-year-old retired general was elected on a ticket to combat crime and corruption.

Guatemala's top prosecutor's office tweeted late on Wednesday that Attorney General Thelma Aldana had sought an arrest order for Perez. It said charges included illicit association and customs fraud.

An official from Aldana’s office confirmed a judge had issued an order for Perez's detention.

It was not immediately clear when Perez's capture order would go into effect.

However, Guatemala's police are usually only able to implement such orders between 6am and 6pm (12.00 - 24.00 GMT).

Prosecutors, who deemed Perez a flight risk, had barred him from leaving the country.

However, Perez's lawyer said earlier on Wednesday, before the detention order was issued, that he would not flee the country.

Perez, who cannot run for re-election under the constitution and is supposed to remain in office until a handover in January, has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said he would not resign over the scandal.

Perez's conservative administration has spent much of this year mired in public protests and scandals over corruption allegations against senior officials, several of whom he fired during a cabinet purge in May.

Prosecutors have said it is highly probable that Perez was involved in a customs racket dubbed “La Linea,” or the line, due to a phone hotline used in the scandal, in which importers avoided paying customs duties in exchange for bribes.

Reuters

Related Topics: