- Title: FILE: Guatemalan ex-President Perez enters house arrest after 8 years in prison
- Date: 4th January 2024
- Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE – MARCH 28, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF COURTHOUSE FORMER GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT OTTO PEREZ MOLINA DURING HEARING JUDGE SPEAKING AT HEARING PEREZ MOLINA DURING HEARING PEREZ MOLINA TALKING TO PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FORMER GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT, OTTO PEREZ, SAYING: "I will repeat again here that the CICIG ( International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala), which has become an instrument of the United States Embassy, is behind this. I again denounce the interference by the United States.” PEREZ MOLINA LEAVING STAND GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE – OCTOBER 24, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MATAMOROS PRISON WHERE PEREZ MOLINA WAS INCARCERATED VARIOUS OF MATAMOROS PRISON WITH ARMED GUARDS GUARDING PEREZ MOLINA VARIOUS OF PEREZ MOLINA DURING INTERVIEW GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEREZ MOLINA IN COURT DURING HEARING ON CORRUPTION CHARGES VARIOUS OF ANTI-PEREZ MOLINA GUATEMALANS CELEBRATING PEREZ'S ARREST GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CENTRAL AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, INCLUDING PEREZ MOLINA, WITH THEN U.S. VICE-PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN BIDEN AND PEREZ MOLINA GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE – NOVEMBER 9, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THEN OUTING GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT ALVARO COLOM AND THEN PRESIDENT-ELECT PEREZ MOLINA STANDING ON PODIUM AFTER POWER TRANSITION MEETING PEREZ MOLINA SPEAKING FROM PODIUM
- Embargoed: 18th January 2024 22:57
- Keywords: Coruption Guatemala House arrest Otto Perez Molina President Prison
- Location: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- City: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- Country: Guatemala
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,South America / Central America
- Reuters ID: LVA001995004012024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez entered house arrest after being imprisoned since 2015 on a corruption conviction, his lawyer said on Thursday (January 4).
Perez, a retired general, governed the Central American nation from 2012 until 2015, when he was forced to resign with just four months left in his term amid protests over graft scandals.
The ex-president left prison on Wednesday evening (January 3), his lawyer, Cesar Calderon, told Reuters. To leave prison and enter house arrest, Perez had to pay a $38,000 bond and put up two properties worth $1.2 million as collateral, Calderon said.
In late 2022, Perez was sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of illicit association and customs fraud. Alongside his Vice President Roxana Baldetti, who remains imprisoned, Perez was accused of leading a customs fraud network that stole some $3.5 million in state funds during their administration.
The case, known as "La Linea," was originally investigated under the now-defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), backed by the United Nations.
Perez was sentenced to another eight years in prison last year on money laundering and fraud charges in a separate case.
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