This December 7, the trial of the La Línea case came to an end, after seven years of process, and in which 29 accused must serve a sentence or else they will recover their full freedom.
Otto Pérez Molina and Roxana Baldetti, former presidential candidate of Guatemala, as well as the rest of those involved, are accused of belonging to a criminal network dedicated to customs fraud and tax evasion that operated from the end of 2013 until April 16, 2015 , in the customs of Puerto Quetzal, Central and Santo Tomás de Castilla.
Read also: Check out our coverage on Guatemala
The hearing takes place in the Hearing Room where the judges of the High Risk Court “B” in charge of Judge Jeanneth Valdés argue the decision if Pérez Molina and Baldetti are convicted or acquitted of various crimes.
Later, several hours after the judges shared the analysis, both former officials were acquitted of the crime of illicit enrichment, but the judges do not doubt that there was an increase in wealth, however, there is no “strong” evidence.
The spokesperson of the Court, Kathy Sarceño said that it was not shown if there were properties, aircraft, cars or bank accounts.
SENTENCE
On the other hand, the court confirmed the sentence for illicit association and cases of customs fraud.
The bribes from the alleged customs fraud add up to Q28 million and what was defrauded to the State Q73 million, according to the judicial file examined by the judges in charge of the case.
Former Vice President Roxana Baldetti was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the two crimes mentioned above, plus a fine of Q8 million. This is the second sentence that she has to face for corruption.
Former President Otto Pérez Molina was sentenced to 16 years in prison, the same for two crimes, plus a fine of Q8 million.
La Línea was the first case of corruption revealed by the Public Ministry (MP) and the former International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig) in April 2015, when the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) made it known.
THEY CRITICIZE THE ROLE OF CICIG
The presiding judge Jeanette Valdés criticized the investigation of the case, the preventive detention, the role of the extinct International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cigig) and lastly, former judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez.
“We didn’t need foreigners to come and do a job for us like the one they did in some of the cases. Were there errors by the Public Ministry? Yes, there were, you pointed it out very well. There were some issues accredited to the Judicial Branch by the preceding stage, there were also issues,” said Valdés.
According to the judge, she said that she never “supported the interests of Cicig,” and that she never met with them and that now allows her to guarantee that she will not interfere in the decision.
She recalled that also as a court it is important to determine the legitimacy of the evidence.
“There are insurmountable shortcomings and errors that will end in an acquittal. There are people here who suffered the so-called pretrial detention, which is quite unfortunate, because this has no legal basis. It was a factual situation that became a problem, but in any case the judge has the exhaustive coercive measures,” said the judge, referring to some actions taken by Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez at the time.
THEY AWAITED AN “ACQUITTAL” SENTENCE.
Otto Pérez Molina told journalists upon leaving the transport that he had transferred him from the prison located in the Mariscal Zavala Military Brigade to the mega-chamber of hearings, the place where the proceeding was being held, that he awaits an “acquittal.”
In addition, he added that they hope that the Court resolves “according to the law and all the evidence has been valued fairly, and then it is the truly acquittal sentence.”
“Right now we come with faith, we come confident and with the certainty that justice will be done and therefore (the sentence) will be acquittal,” he emphasized.
He also stated that “the wait has been long, and I believe that today will be the day that the truth of things will be told. After 7 years and 3 months, in which we showed our faces, we did not go on the run, I resigned as president,” he said.
In addition, he mentioned the work of the extinct International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig).
“Today I hope that the deception that was done to a part of the Guatemalan people is removed, or at least a part of the Guatemalan people who believed in Cicig and what they were doing,” he concluded.
SOME ACCUSED ACQUITTED
Of the 29 implicated in the La Línea case, several have already been acquitted by the High Risk Court B, in charge of Judge Jeanneth Valdés.
Of the 29 indicated, 11 were acquitted, among them, two former Superintendents of Tax Administration, Carlos Enrique Muñoz Roldán, who was accused of illicit association, provisional closure for passive bribery and a special case of customs fraud; and Álvaro Omar Franco Chacón accused of illicit association, special case of customs fraud and passive bribery.
Giovanni Marroquín Navas, who according to the Public Ministry was the link between the internal and external structure of La Línea, the Court acquitted him of the crime of illicit association, because there is not enough evidence.
Also, Anthony Segura Franco, former general secretary of the SAT union, accused of the crimes of illegal association and passive bribery, was acquitted.
With information from Bloomberg Línea