Amnesty International demands the freedom of Virginia Laparra one year after her unjust sentence

2023-12-15 15:02:23
Former prosecutor Virginia Laparra. Courtesy from Truth and Justice Guatemala,

One year after the conviction of the former prosecutor Virginia LaparraAmnesty International urges the authorities expedite his release, as ordered by a group of independent United Nations experts who declared his arbitrary detention.

On December 16, 2022, Virginia Laparra was sentenced to four years in prison for the crime of abuse of authorityafter a process full of irregularities and violations of her human rights, which led Amnesty International to declare her a prisoner of conscience.

In May 2023 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that the detention of the former anti-corruption prosecutor was arbitrary and requested her immediate release. However, in a few days Virginia Laparra will turn 22 months deprived of liberty, far from his two daughters and his family. Recently, the Supreme Court of Justice, which has in its hands an appeal that could allow her conditional release, has twice suspended the hearing to hear this appeal.

“Virginia Laparra is one more victim of the unjust criminal persecution of those who have defended justice and human rights. “She should not spend another day in jail.”

Ana Piquer, Amnesty International

“Virginia Laparra is one more victim of the unjust criminal persecution of those who have defended justice and human rights. She should not spend another day in jail. She urges that the Guatemalan authorities heed the call of the United Nations Working Group and the entire international community to release her immediately,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Americas.

The widespread criminalization promoted by the Guatemalan justice system against justice operators, journalists and human rights defenders which has contributed to the fight against corruption and impunity, has forced dozens of people to go into exile in recent years. It is estimated that At least 45 prosecutors and judges have been forced to flee Guatemala since 2018 to avoid unfair and unfounded processes that, like Virginia Laparra, would lead them to jail.