- Title: Corruption-fighting Guatemalan Attorney General a Nobel Prize hopeful
- Date: 1st October 2016
- Summary: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF HEARING FOR FORMER GUATEMALAN VICE PRESIDENT ROXANA BALDETTI VARIOUS OF BALDETTI DURING HEARING ALDANA AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH COMMISSIONER IVAN VELAZQUEZ FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST CORRECTION IN GUATEMALA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ATTORNEY GENERAL AND HEAD OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY, THEMLA ALDENA, SAYING: "That the president (Perez) has taken part in the same conduct as the people who have been accused of being part of the criminal organisation." OFFICERS ESCORTING FORMER GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT OTTO PEREZ AS HE LEAVES COURTHOUSE GENERAL VIEW OF PEOPLE WITH FLAGS PROTESTING AGAINST CORRUPTION IN MAIN SQUARE VARIOUS OF ANTI-CORRUPTION PROTEST
- Embargoed: 16th October 2016 10:34
- Keywords: Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana Otto Perez Nobel Peace Prize
- Location: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- City: GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
- Country: Guatemala
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003526VI9Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana is a Nobel Peace Prize hopeful for her efforts to stamp out corruption in the highest levels of government, implicating former president Otto Perez.
Aldana has accused Perez of negotiating hundreds of bribes for public contracts, and ordered at least 50 high-profile people arrested for participating in the massive corruption scheme.
In her investigation, Aldana worked closely with the Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
The CICIG is a body backed by the United Nations that implicated 450 cases of illicit contracts involving bankers, officials, and businessmen such as the legal representative of Sigma, Guatemala's most important construction firm as well as people who acted as front men to hide the source of funds.
The corruption scandal went as high as the president's office, taking down Otto Perez and his vice president Roxana Baldetti.
"The president (Perez) has taken part in the same conduct as the people who have been accused of being part of the criminal organisation," declared Aldana.
Perez and Baldetti have denied any involvement in the fraud.
A lawyer by trade, Aldana is amongst Guatemala's most powerful women in public office.
In 2009 she became a Supreme Court judge and later became the president of the Court in 2011 and 2012.
It was then-president Otto Perez who appointed Aldana to the Attorney General and Public Ministry Director posts in the country.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo on Friday October 7 at 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT).
The prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns (1.4 million U.S. dollars) will be awarded to its recipient or joint recipients on December 10, 2016. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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