Virginia Laparra, former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (Feci) of Quetzaltenango, was sentenced to four years in commutable prison, at a rate of Q10 per day, after the Eighth Criminal Sentencing Court sentenced her this Friday, December 16, 2022.
The former anti-corruption prosecutor was sentenced for continuous abuse of authority for having denounced a judge in 2018 without having received authorization from Feci in Guatemala.
Present at the sentence were Ricardo Méndez Ruiz and Raúl Falla from the Foundation against Terrorism, who was a plaintiff in the process.
Méndez Ruiz, stated that he was “satisfied” with the resolution of Judge Oly González, who sentenced former prosecutor Laparra for abuse of authority.
In the last hearing of the case, on December 15, Laparra gave his last words and debated the accusations made against him by Judge Lesther Castellanos.
She pointed out that Judge Castellanos revealed that his motivation for accusing her was for a rematch, which, according to her, was evidenced in November 2018.
“This is revenge not precisely against me but against the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig),” Laparra declared.
“At the dismissal hearing -Castellanos- told my lawyer: ‘Look, she didn’t go, it was Cicig, but someone has to pay,'” Laparra said.
Laparra faced the judicial process because in 2018 she denounced Judge Castellanos four times, for which she was accused of an alleged “abuse of power”. The accuser said that she Laparra acted “by private motivation.”
But according to what Laparra declared, contrary to the accusation of Castellanos, who accused her of leaking information, she did her job and did not seek to gain prominence. “I didn’t do my job out of popularity but out of love for my people,” she said.
The former head of the Feci in Quetzaltenango, Virginia Laparra, is sentenced to four years in commutable prison (at a rate of Q10 per day) for continuous abuse of authority for having denounced a judge in 2018 without having had authorization from Feci in Guatemala. pic.twitter.com/Od1RyKkk0K
— Edwin Peter (@Epitan_PL) December 16, 2022
Feci’s former boss, Virginia Laparra, leaves the room of the Eighth Criminal Court after being found guilty of abuse of authority. pic.twitter.com/9ZwPuFhf7Q
— Edwin Peter (@Epitan_PL) December 16, 2022
