American Expatriate Costa Rica

Guatemalan president accused of corruption still has diplomatic immunity

On Monday, the Guatemalan Congress rejected taking away the privileges from President Jimmy Morales, preventing the prosecution and a UN anti-crime commission to investigate him for anomalies in the finances of the party that brought him to power in 2015.

To suspend diplomatic immunity 105 of the 158 congressmen must approve the motion, but only 25 were in favor.

The Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office and a UN commission asked for the suspension of President Morales’ inmunity for a series of allegedly irregular transactions during his campaign with the party FCN-Nación, which came to power in 2015.

According to Iván Velásquez, the head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig), the president is suspected of illicit electoral financing by receiving anonymous contributions to his FCN-Nación party, banned by law, in addition to not reporting other expenses to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

crhoy.com