Guatemala’s ex-president Giammattei sues Geneva public prosecutor
Published: Sunday, Sep 1st 2024, 09:40
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Immediately before the start of a new trial in Geneva against Guatemala's ex-police chief Erwin Sperisen, the public prosecutor responsible has been sued by two of the South American country's leading politicians. The former president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, and former interior minister Carlos Vielmann have accused him of slander and defamation.
The public prosecutor wrongly accused both men of being jointly responsible for the execution of seven men during a prison riot in Guatemala in 2006 and of being part of a criminal organization, the Guatemalans' lawyer announced on Sunday.
"My clients are fed up with being portrayed as members of a criminal organization, even though the public prosecutor knows that they have been acquitted by various courts, including in Europe," the lawyer wrote. The public prosecutor is presenting the accusations untruthfully and against his better judgment. The Geneva public prosecutor's office has not commented on the case.
Alejandro Giammattei was President of Guatemala from 2020 to 2024. Carlos Vielmann was Guatemala's Interior Minister from 2004 to 2008.
The fourth trial against former police chief Sperisen begins in Geneva on Monday. The Swiss-Guatemalan dual citizen, whose previous convictions have been overturned, is to stand trial again for accessory to murder. He is accused of being involved in the killing of the prisoners when the security forces stormed the prison.
Lived in detention for eleven years
The Geneva public prosecutor claims that Sperisen cooperated with Giammattei and Vielmann as well as other people in planning the prison assault. Sperisen's lawyers deny the allegations and demand an acquittal.
The case has been dragging on for more than twelve years due to appeals. Most recently, the Federal Supreme Court overturned a 15-year prison sentence following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in June 2023.
Erwin Sperisen, now 54, fled to Switzerland with his family in 2007. He was arrested in Geneva in 2012. He spent more than eleven years in custody, between pre-trial detention, house arrest and a prison sentence.
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