Former judge Carlos Ruano, who denounced Judge Blanca Stalling, goes into exile after denouncing political persecution

2023-09-28 00:05:23

Former criminal judge Carlos Ruano announced this Wednesday, September 27, that he decided to exile from Guatemala due to “political persecution” against him and He accused Supreme Court Justice Blanca Stalling of being behind the attacks on her person.

“I was forced to resign from my position and I am at risk of suffering irreparable damage to my life”Ruano denounced through a video broadcast on his official networks.

Roan, who served as a criminal judge for 14 years, He assured that the persecution against him began after, in 2016, he denounced Judge Stalling because he asked her to release his son who was accused in a corruption plot.

As a result of Ruano’s complaint, Stalling was prosecuted. However, Last year she regained her freedom and her position as a magistrate.

“This is the worst moment for justice in Guatemala,” said Ruano and blamed the authorities of the Supreme Court of Justice for limiting him. resign from his position because they accepted a pretrial against him that in his opinion “contains false data.”

In 2021, the United States Department of State recognized Judge Ruano as one of the most important anti-corruption actors in the country and highlighted his “work for judicial independence.”

After announcing his exile, Ruano joins high-impact judges Erika Aifán and Miguel Ángel Gálvez, who also left the country in 2021 and 2022 after being persecuted by actors whom they had previously tried for corruption cases.

Since 2020, at least 50 justice operators, journalists, lawyers and activists who have denounced political persecution by Guatemala’s justice apparatus They have had to go into exile and the majority are in the United States.