Prosecutor Stuardo Campo arrested for alleged anomalies in the Bitkov, Tamaulipas and Alfa Siete cases

2023-05-26 19:35:30

Prosecutor Stuardo Campo was captured this Friday, May 26, 2023 by an order against him derived from a complaint filed by the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT), in which he is accused of his actions in the Bitkov, Tamaulipas and Alpha Seven.

The Ninth Court issued the arrest warrant against Campo, but the prosecutor declared upon his arrival at Torre de Tribunales that he was already aware of it and last Thursday, May 25, he spoke personally with Attorney General María Consuelo Porras.

“A court issued an arrest warrant against me for the crimes of abuse of authority and breach of duty, but it is a spurious complaint filed by the Foundation Against Terrorism that we know has been systematically dedicated to the persecution of justice operators” Field stated.

In the same process, which is reserved in the Ninth Criminal Court, the assistant prosecutor Brayan Antonio Palencia was also arrested.

Complaint

The FCT accusation claims the Bitkov case, in which the investigation was allegedly diverted due to a complaint filed by the Russian family so that it would not affect the former general secretary of the MP, Mayra Veliz. But according to Campo, “it is totally false” and they are “spurious indications.”

Another act denounced by the FCT is the Tamaulipas case, in which it is pointed out that during the raids Q80 thousand were stolen despite the fact that documents were presented that demonstrated the origin of the money. It is described that “Campo and other prosecutors seized the cash.”

But, according to the prosecutor, the seizure was within the legal powers of prosecutors and agents of the National Civil Police as long as the authorization of a competent judge is counted.

“First it cannot be determined if the money comes from a legal or illegal activity, so from that point of view, it was necessary to proceed with the kidnapping of the certain amount of money that was located, but no illegality was committed,” he said upon entering to Courts, handcuffed and escorted by agents.

Alpha Seven Case

In the case of Alfa Siete, it is mentioned in the complaint that an elderly person was illegally deprived of his liberty for 27 days, due to an “error”.

The same prosecutor Campo assured that he requested the lack of merit when establishing that the person arrested had no relation to the investigative process.

He talked with Porras

Campo assured that one day before his arrest, on Thursday, May 25, he approached the Attorney General Consuelo Porras when he found out about the arrest warrant.

“I am not surprised, I already knew, yesterday I informed the attorney general that I was at the disposal of the Public Ministry and the Courts of Justice because I have nothing to hide, hide, or fear,” he argued.

Campo later detailed what he explained to Porras: “he granted me an audience and I explained to him the details of what happened in the Alfa Siete case, because I want you to know that this capture is due to an arrest warrant that was wrongly managed by the prosecutor’s office” .

“The prosecutor told me that she would never proceed arbitrarily, that she would be objective, that she would not allow the Public Ministry to act arbitrarily and that all the actions of the institution would always adhere to the law,” he added.

According to Campo, the accusation against him “is not imputable or attributable” to his person. He assured that he was “very satisfied” with the work he did in the MP, where he added 12 years of career in different positions.

“…I know that in the exercise of my position as an anti-corruption prosecutor he earned me a lot of animosity from certain sectors. It is definitely part of the political persecution that has become quite common in Guatemala, but here I am with my head held high and with the full conviction that I will be able to resolve my legal situation. I have not committed any crime ”, he sentenced.

Transfer

Campo directed the Prosecutor’s Office Against Corruption, which was in charge of the investigation for alleged anomalies in the construction of the highway section in Chimaltenango, until April 16, 2021, the date on which his transfer to the head of the Prosecutor’s Office against Illicit Traffic of Migrants.

At that time, the MP reported that the directive of Attorney General Consuelo Porras to make the change responded to the “need to strengthen a key prosecutor’s office” such as the unit against the Smuggling of Migrants.

Prior to his transfer to another prosecutor’s office, Campo announced that there was an ongoing investigation involving former President Jimmy Morales and confirmed that there were also inquiries linked to officials of the Alejandro Giammattei administration, although the MP ruled out that assertion.