The First Court of Criminal Sentencing of Quetzaltenango suspended the hearing scheduled for this Monday, May 6, in the second case against the former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI), Virginia Laparra, due to the absence of a co-plaintiff.
Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, president of the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT), who is one of the co-plaintiffs in the case, did not appear at the hearing.
Virginia Laparra assured Guatevision that this only represents a delay in the process.
The former prosecutor commented that the court of justice was contacted to find out if the hearing was going to take place or would be suspended due to some situation of the attached plaintiffs and on May 6 the procedure was not carried out due to the non-attendance of the FCT.
“They shy away from hearings more than me as a union member. With my defense we are always here, but they always try to suspend the hearings and delay the process,” Laparra added.
The hearing was scheduled for 8 a.m. on May 27, it was reported.
Criminal proceedings
Virginia Laparra remained detained since February 22, 2022 for the first case where the Public Ministry accused her of crime of continued abuse of authority for having denounced former judge Lester Castellanos, without having had authorization from the FECI of Guatemala.
On October 19, 2022, while Laparra’s defense sought to obtain a substitute measure for house arrest, it was learned that the former prosecutor faces a second criminal process where the Public Ministry accuses her of crime of revealing confidential or confidential informationfor apparently disclosing details of criminal proceedings that were under seal.
Also read: Chamber rejects appeals and confirms alternative measures of former prosecutor Virginia Laparra
Judge Carmen Acú Recinos decided to bind Laparra to trial on January 4, 2023. Acú ruled that Laparra should continue to remain in preventive detention.
The Eighth Criminal Sentencing Court benefited the former head of the FECI in Quetzaltenango with the substitute measure of house arrest on January 3, 2024.
In that hearing, Judge Oly González complied with the order of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) that on December 26, 2023 ordered the release of the former anti-corruption prosecutor.
The Criminal Chamber notified Laparra’s team of lawyers that the lawyer’s release is ordered for having served 45 percent of the sentence in the first case in which she was accused.
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