This is the second sentence against Laparra, 44, after she was sentenced to four years in prison on 16 December 2022 in another controversial trial, which has been reported to have denounced a judge without possessing the power to do so.
A Guatemalan court sentenced former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra to five years in prison on Monday, in a case criticized by the international community.
This is the second sentence against Laparra, 44, after she was sentenced to four years in prison on 16 December 2022 in another controversial trial, which has been reported to have denounced a judge without possessing the power to do so.
“For the commission of this criminal offence, he is sentenced to five years in prison on a commutable basis,” Judge Moisés de León of the court of the city of Quetzaltenango said in the reading of the ruling, about 200 km west of the capital.
Laparra, who has been under house arrest since 4 January after facing two years in prison, was head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity in Quetzaltenango when she was arrested in the midst of a repressive wave against prosecutors and judges who had been in charge of corruption cases.
The United States and the European Union (EU) have already sanctioned Guatemala’s Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, for the persecution of some thirty local justice officials, including Laparra, and others who went into exile.
In addition, Amnesty International (AI) considers Laparra a “prison of conscience” and claims that she was arrested and prosecuted for her work of antimafias.
Judge De León stated that during the trial, which began on 27 May, it was established that Laparra is responsible for the crime of disclosure of information reserved to the degree of author committed against the public administration and the administration of justice.
The former former defence she was also fined about $6,400 and was unable to run for public office for 10 years.
In addition, De León ordered that Laparra can continue in house arrest if he pays 64 cents for each day of sentence ($1,168 for five years).
The sentence was criticized by AI, the United States Government and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
I have no regrets.
After hearing the sentence, Laparra attacked the Guatemalan judicial system and stated that he acted in accordance with the law.
“Virginia Laparra is twice convicted, I was two years in prison for filing administrative complaints, I don’t regret it,” the former former defencewo dealer told journalists.
“And the justice fiasco we have in Guatemala can say whatever I want, I have my dignity intact, I do not regret any of my actions,” insisted Laparra, who was about to break in tears as he remembered his two daughters in the courtroom.
The conviction of former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra to 5 years in prison is another example of the heinous attacks by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office on the rule of law, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said on her X.
It also called on the judicial authorities to stop using the criminal justice system to prosecute human rights and justice defenders.
Show of stealth
Today’s conviction is unfortunately another example of the politically motivated persecution promoted by the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office against those who have fought corruption, said AI’s director for the Americas, Ana Piquer.
There are no guarantees of due process for these people. This new sentence, just 18 months after the first, handed down in 2022, is a sign of the gnation against the former attorney, Piquer added in a statement.
Meanwhile, OHCHR expressed its concern in X about the sentence because it reveals the lack of guarantees for operators of justice to serve their role without intimidation, reprisals and attacks.
Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, in power since last January, has tried to get Porras out, but he lacks the power to dismiss her. The questioned attorney general has a mandate until 2026.
This article has been translated after first appearing in El Salvador