Guatemala top court halts deportation of UN anti-corruption official News
Guatemala top court halts deportation of UN anti-corruption official

The Guatemalan Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended President Jimmy Morales’ [official twitter] order to deport the head of a UN anti-corruption commission from the country. The order came from the president two days after Ivan Velasquez, the Colombian prosecutor who leads Guatemala’s International Commission against Impunity [official website], announced his pursuit to lift Morales’ immunity from prosecution in order to investigate alleged illegal campaign financing. The Supreme Court quickly halted the deportation, stating [AP report] that the order was issued improperly. The UN stated that it was disturbed [Reuters report] by Morales’ actions against Velasquez. Citizens, in protest of Morales, declared a state of siege in the capital, and the US ambassador to Guatemala Todd Robinson [official website] stated that the president’s moves could put at risk a US development plan in Central America to reduce poverty and crime.

Guatemala has a history of political scandal. Former president Otto Pérez Molina and ex-vice president Roxana Baldetti were accused [JURIST report] of taking nearly 130 million in bribes in the beginning of 2011 by Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana. In August 2015 the Guatemalan Supreme Court approved [JURIST report] prosecutors’ requests to impeach Molina after he announced his intent to not resign after the scandal broke. In October, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] welcomed a draft bill [JURIST report] on constitutional justice reforms in the Guatemala legislature, which “represents an historic opportunity to consolidate the remarkable progress the country has achieved in the fight against impunity and corruption in recent years.” In June a Guatemalan judge who served as general secretary for Guatemala’s soccer federation pled guilty [JURIST report] to fraud and conspiracy in the FIFA scandal.

THIS DAY @ LAW

First impeachment trial began in US Senate

On December 17, 1798, the US Senate began its first impeachment trial. Senator William Blount of Tennessee, a land speculator, was accused of plotting with England to wrest control of Florida from Spain. The Senate ultimately dismissed the charges for lack of jurisdiction—and, perhaps incidentally, lack of Blount, who had gone to Tennessee and had refused to return to the Senate for trial. Read more on the trial of William Blount.

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On December 17, 1830, South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar died in Colombia. During his lifetime, Bolivar led successful revolutions against Spanish colonial rule throughout South America. His efforts led to the independence of the modern-day nations of Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Bolivia, a nation named in his honor.