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News > Guatemala

Guatemala: Ex-President Perez Might Face House Arrest

  • Former President Otto Perez, Guatemala, 2021.

    Former President Otto Perez, Guatemala, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @Ricigt1

Published 16 November 2021
Opinion

He resigned in September 2015 upon the citizenry's pressure on him over the appearance of the first corruption accusations against him.

Guatemala’s Higher Risk Court B ruled on Monday that former President Otto Perez (2012-2015) —a general who has remained six years under preventive detention for corruption accusations— might go under house arrest if he pays a US$1,7 million bail.

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"I cannot pay this money," Perez alleged and criticized the Guatemalan justice system for trying to resolve the excess of prisoners in jails with high bails that the defendants cannot pay.

"My lawyers will determine whether it will be feasible to file an appeal so that the Court reconsider the bail amount. If that does not work, I will have to stay in custody," he added.

Perez resigned in September 2015 upon the citizenry's pressure on him over the appearance of the first corruption accusations against him. A month earlier, then-Vice President Roxana Baldetti was also arrested for another corruption case known as State Cooptation that involved Perez.

According to witnesses in the latter case, Baldetti and Perez raised funds from entrepreneurs during their election campaigns and used overseas companies in Panama and Belize to buy real estate and hide the funds.

Baldetti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for these crimes. Perez, however, has not yet been tried since one of the top prosecutors handling his case, Juan Francisco Sandoval, was dismissed on July 23 by Attorney General Consuelo Porras.

"Sandoval was doing selective justice," alleged Porras, whom the U.S. included in a list of corrupt officials from the Central American Northern Triangle since she constantly interferes in criminal investigations. 

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