Guatemala issues arrest warrant for President Otto Perez Molina

TotalGuatemalan President Otto Perez Molina (center) at a press conference in Guatemala City in June 2015. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Just one day after the Guatemalan Congress stripped incumbent President Otto Perez Molina of his immunity, an arrest warrant for the 64-year-old politician was issued on September 2.

Judge Miguel Angel Galvez has issued an arrest warrant for President Otto Perez, who is accused of being involved in the country's largest corruption and tax evasion ring.

Hours earlier, all five members of the Guatemalan Constitutional Court (CC) dismissed two lawsuits filed by President Otto Perez's defense attorney against the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the country's congressional Special Commission of Inquiry regarding corruption and tax evasion involving high-ranking government officials.

The two lawsuits filed by President Otto Perez's lawyers are against the CSJ's decision to allow the country's prosecutors to open a criminal investigation, and against the legality of the proposal to lift presidential immunity made by the Special Commission of Investigation of the Guatemalan Congress.

CC argues that there is no reason for President Otto Perez to be outside the law and that the country's parliament's decision to strip the politician of his immunity is irreversible.

Meanwhile, Public Minister Thelma Aldana has formally requested Otto Perez's removal from office and this measure must take effect before Otto Perez appears in court.

Thelma Aldana sees this move as just the first step in the fight to restore the dignity of the Guatemalan republic. She also asserts that President Otto Perez will be held accountable in court for his alleged involvement in leading the corruption ring.

Under Guatemalan law, President Otto Perez would be removed from office if a criminal court ordered his arrest.

Previously, with 132 votes in favor, the Guatemalan Congress unanimously voted to strip the incumbent president of his immunity and authorities have taken many effective measures to prevent Mr. Otto Perez from fleeing abroad as some officials of this country have done in the past.

Faced with these allegations, President Otto Perez has repeatedly denied any involvement in the corruption scandals, and has affirmed that he will not postpone the general election scheduled for September 6.

Guatemala has been experiencing a deep political crisis since the International Commission on Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and the country's Public Ministry uncovered a number of corruption scandals involving several government officials, including former Vice President Roxana Baldetti Elias.

The politician was also arrested and denied bail due to concerns that the investigation could be hampered because she is an Italian citizen and could flee.

Immediately after the arrest of Ms. Roxana Baldetti, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Telecommunications resigned along with five other senior government officials. The heads of the Ministries of Economy, Health, Education and Agriculture also made similar decisions.

According to the CICIG investigation, they found evidence that Guatemalan President Otto Perez and former Vice President Roxana Baldetti participated in and headed a bribery network to facilitate large-scale tax evasion. After reviewing 86,000 phone calls, investigators identified a network called "La Linea" (The Line), referring to the hotline that companies used to contact certain customs officials.

The conversations mentioned two people, "Number One" and "Number Two." Authorities believe that these are Mr. Otto Perez and Ms. Roxana Baldetti. In addition, the investigating agencies also have many other pieces of evidence./.

According to Vn +