Guatemala: the main anti-corruption investigator leaves the country "to save his life"
On July 24, 2021, around 1,000 people took to the streets of Guatemala City in solidarity with Juan Francisco Sandoval and called for the resignation of the president and the attorney general.
REUTERS - STRINGER
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Juan Francisco Sandoval was sacked on Friday by Guatemala's attorney general.
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It is not known where Juan Francisco Sandoval left.
We just know that a "
mediator
" accompanied him to the Salvadoran border "
to save his life and his integrity
", according to the office of the human rights mediator of Guatemala.
The man was the head of the office of the special prosecutor against impunity, FECI, until Friday, when Guatemala's attorney general sacked him for "
frequent violations of the institution
".
Juan Francisco Sandoval says, for his part, that he has encountered many obstacles in his work.
In particular, a request not to investigate the President of Guatemala,
Alejandro Giammattei
, without the consent of the Attorney General.
This goes against the independence of the FECI, he said.
The FECI, which is attached to the prosecution, is investigating large-scale corruption cases.
In the past, she has attacked several presidents during her work with the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
This commission, which revealed scandals leading in 2015 to the
resignation of President Otto Perez,
disappeared in 2019 under the presidency of Jimmy Morales: it had accused him, along with the FECI, of electoral corruption.
To protest against the dismissal of Juan Francisco Sandoval, a thousand people took to the streets of the Guatemalan capital on Saturday.
The US State Department denounces a "
major setback for the rule of law
".
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Guatemala
Corruption
Alejandro Giammattei