The President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, assured this Friday that his country’s justice will respect the diplomatic immunity of the Colombian Defense Minister, investigated for alleged irregularities when he served as head of a UN anti-mafia mission in the Central American country.
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The announcement eases tensions with Bogotá, which called its ambassador for consultations this week after a Guatemalan prosecutor ordered “legal action” against Minister Iván Velásquez, who enjoys diplomatic immunity for directing the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), an entity attached to the UN that revealed several corruption scandals.
“Even if he has committed a crime, the man cannot be prosecuted, but he must be investigated (…) he cannot be tried, but he can be investigated,” Giammattei said in an interview with the Colombian station W Radio.
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The president, who called his representative in Bogotá for consultations in reciprocity, declared himself “respectful of all the conventions and treaties” of the United Nations that grant perpetual immunity to the current Colombian Defense Minister.
According to the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office, Velásquez would have irregularly endorsed the agreements of “effective collaborator” (protected witness) of three former Brazilian executives in the case of bribery of the Odebrecht construction company in that country. The minister denies these accusations.
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The United States and the UN have expressed “concern” about the legal actions against Velásquez and other leading figures in the fight against corruption in Guatemala. The CICIG, closed by the Guatemalan government in 2019, was an entity attached to the UN that, together with the prosecutor’s office, revealed several corruption scandals in the Central American country.
The case with the greatest impact was the one involving then-president Otto Pérez (2012-2015), accused of leading a customs fraud structure and sentenced to 16 years in prison last December.
AFP
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