Anti-Corruption Judge Becomes Next Target of Guatemala Prosecutors

[Judi Lynn]

ELITES AND CRIME/
19 JAN 2022 BY ALEX PAPADOVASSILAKIS

A Guatemalan judge recently heralded by the US State Department as a “woman of courage” says she is being attacked by her country’s Attorney General’s Office over her work on high-profile corruption cases.

In just under a week, the Attorney General’s Office has submitted two requests to lift the immunity of Judge Erika Lorena Aifán Dávila, alleging that she abused her authority by taking on cases without obtaining approval from the country’s Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia – CSJ), which assigns major cases to top-level judges, according to press statements released January 13 and 18. Canceling her immunity would leave Aifán vulnerable to arrest and prosecution.

Aifán denied the allegations, saying she is being “criminalized” for her work on major cases as a judge on Guatemala’s court of High Risk (Mayor Riesgo). These cases include a corruption probe implicating some of the country’s most notorious political operators, as well as a controversial investigation into a prominent journalist.

“I have not committed any crime,” Aifán told InSight Crime, adding that the moves by the Attorney General’s Office violate protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos – CIDH).

More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/anti-corruption-judge-becomes-next-target-guatemala-prosecutors/