• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

Guatemala Begins Hearings to Withdraw President's Inmunity

  • A demonstrator holds a sign as he protests against Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City.

    A demonstrator holds a sign as he protests against Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 September 2017
Opinion

Morales faces harsh criticism and a possible trial for corruption, based on alleged illegal election funds.

Guatemala's high court has begun hearings into Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales over his alleged involvement in illegal electoral financing.

GALLERY:
Guatemalans call for Resignation of President Morales

The Supreme Court said it will meet on Monday to hear the requests for preliminary hearings against Morales, according to judge Vitalina Orellana.

Orellana said the allegations were made around Morales' electoral financing during his 2015 presidential campaign. The accusation was made by the Public Ministry and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, Cicig.

The request for removing Morales' immunity involve accusations of illegal electoral financing, obstructing justice and abuse of authority.

Morales has been under fire for ordering the expulsion of Ivan Velasquez, the head of the Cicig. He declared Velasquez "persona non grata" and ordered him to leave the country immediately.

He stated that Velasquez had "meddled in domestic affairs, which are the sole responsibility of the Guatemalan state."

The Constitutional Court ruled definitively that Morales couldn't expel the investigator.

Velasquez had been investigating allegations of graft involving Morales' older brother, Sammy Morales, and Jose Manuel Morales, one the president's sons. The probe was a joint project with Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana.

He said there was evidence that Morales had broken laws when he was the head of his political party. The Cicig was created in 2007 to help the nation's criminal justice system fight organized crime, corruption and impunity more effectively.

The case has since sparked large demonstrations against Morales demanding his resignation.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.