GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan government officials say they will defy a ruling by the country's top court and block the return of the man leading a U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission.

Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart says that commission chief Ivan Velasquez of Colombia won't be allowed to return to Guatemala. Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel and Attorney General Luis Donado joined him at Monday's announcement.

The Constitutional Court had ruled against President Jimmy Morales' effort to keep Velasquez out and made clear its unanimous decision late Sunday could not be appealed.

Morales announced in late August that he would not renew the mandate of the commission, whose corruption probes have helped put former presidents and other officials behind bars. Morales too is under investigation. </s> Guatemala will not allow the head of the the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG, to return to the country, defying an order by the constitutional court.



 Late Sunday, the country’s top court ruled that President Jimmy Morales must let Ivan Velasquez back into the country.

Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart announced Monday that Morales’ administration would defy the court order. Instead, Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said she had asked the United Nations to send a list of possible replacements for Velasquez for Guatemala’s approval.



 Morales came under international condemnation when he announced in late August that he was closing the CICIG and barring Velasquez from the country.

Velasquez had conducted a number of high-profile corruption investigations, include one pending against the president.

Morales said Velasquez is “a person who attacks order and public security in the country.” </s> Guatemala’s constitutional court has ordered President Jimmy Morales to allow the head of a UN-backed anti-corruption commission to return to Guatemala, dealing a blunt rebuke to the leader who has sought in recent weeks to dismantle the body.

The unanimous ruling by the court’s five magistrates marked the second time in as many years that the court has reversed Morales’ efforts to keep commission chief Ivan Velasquez out of Guatemala. Velasquez has pressed a number of high-profile graft investigations, including one that is pending against the president himself.

There was no immediate public reaction from the president. His spokesman, Alfredo Brito, did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Morales announced in late August that he would not renew the mandate of the commission for another two-year term, effectively giving it a year to wind up its activities.

A few days later he said that Velasquez, a Colombian national who was in Washington at the time, would be barred from re-entering the country. Morales called him “a person who attacks order and public security”

Morales’ order touched off public protests in support of the body, and multiple appeals were promptly filed with the constitutional court. Issuing its decision on Sunday night, the court said its ruling must be obeyed and cannot be appealed.

Morales said earlier this month that he was “not obligated to obey illegal rulings,” which observers interpreted as a clear allusion to the court’s previous checks on his actions.

Last year, Morales had declared Velasquez persona non grata and tried to have him expelled from the country, but that move was also blocked by the constitutional court.

Among the investigations that the commission, known as Cicig for its initials in Spanish, has brought in Guatemala was one that led to the resignation and jailing of former President Otto Perez Molina and his vice president. Others have ensnared dozens of politicians, public officials and businesspeople.

Morales is suspected in a case involving more than $1m in purported illicit campaign financing. In August, Guatemala’s Supreme Court allowed a motion by Cicig and Guatemalan prosecutors seeking to lift the president’s immunity from prosecution to go to lawmakers. If they approve it, he would be opened up to possible prosecution.

Morales denies wrongdoing, but critics saw his move to wind down Cicig and bar Velasquez as a manoeuvre to protect himself as well as relatives and associates also in the sights of investigators. </s> Guatemala City, Jan 6 (EFE).- Two officials with the Guatemalan Immigration Institute (IGM) were arrested Sunday for preventing entry into the country by the investigator of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Colombia’s Yilen Osorio.



The Public Ministry identified the pair of officials as the IGM delegates at the La Aurora International Airport: Irma Cruz Suntecun Tesucun and Miguel Antonio Cantoral Davila.



They were arrested for being in violation of a resolution issued by Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras.

 Osorio has been at the airport since late on Saturday.



Porras on Sunday ordered prosecutors to arrest anyone failing to comply with the resolutions regarding CICIG issued by the Constitutional Court, the country’s top judicial body.



The Constitutional Court ordered the IGM to allow Osorio’s entry into Guatemala within one hour after being notified to do so.



CICIG is a United Nations body charged with investigating and prosecuting serious crime in Guatemala.



Meanwhile, Guatemala’s 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu, said at a press conference earlier on Sunday that it was “illegal” to “kidnap” an international official and that officials of the Morales government were implicated in the crime, and she called upon the international community to “seek mechanisms to condemn Guatemala because it violated many rules” by prohibiting Osorio’s entry.



Some 20 organizations and indigenous municipalities had called the decision to bar entry to Osorio “shameful” and demanded that Porras investigate the matter and order the arrest of Cantoral Davila and Cruz Suntecun.



So far, there has been no statement released by the government of Jimmy Morales regarding the resolutions of the AG Office or the Constitutional Court.



In August 2017, a crisis erupted between the Morales government and CICIG, but specifically with CICIG Commissioner Ivan Velasquez, who last September was prohibited from entering the Central American country for his “interference” in internal matters and because the government considered him a threat to Guatemala’s peace and security.



CICIG has investigated key members of the Guatemalan government, along with Morales’ son and his brother, although they have denied accusations of corruption. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Friday shut down a crusading U.N.-sponsored anti-graft commission that has pressed a number of high-profile corruption probes - including one pending against the president himself over purported illicit campaign financing.

Speaking in front of civilian and military leaders, Morales said he had informed the U.N. secretary-general of his decision to revoke the body’s mandate and “immediately” begin transferring its capacities to Guatemalan institutions.

Minutes before the surprise announcement, U.S.-donated army vehicles that Guatemala uses to fight drug and other smuggling were deployed to the commission’s headquarters in the capital in what critics called an attempt at intimidation.

The decision caps a long history of friction between the president and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG for its initials in Spanish.

In August 2017, Morales announced that he was expelling the commission’s chief, Ivan Velasquez, but that move was quickly blocked by Guatemala’s top court.

At the time Morales declared Velasquez a persona non grata and fired his foreign minister for refusing to carry out the order to expel him, before later backing off and saying he would obey the court’s decision.

Morales accused the commission Friday of “violating our laws, inducing people and institutions to participate in acts of corruption and impunity,” and “selective criminal prosecution with an ideological bias.”

“Selective justice has been used to intimidate and terrorize the citizenry,” he charged. “Judicial independence has been violated, with the intention of manipulating justice, actions that attack the presumption of innocence and due process.”

The announcement was promptly met with criticism from human rights officials and advocates.

“We sincerely regret the great mistake that the president made public in not renewing CICIG’s mandate,” Guatemalan human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas said. “We are grateful for its valuable contribution in the country to the fight against corruption and impunity.”

Morales is suspected of receiving at least $1 million in undeclared contributions during the 2015 campaign. He has denied wrongdoing.

Last week the Supreme Court allowed a request brought by CICIG and Guatemalan prosecutors to strip his immunity from prosecution to go to Congress for consideration. If 105 lawmakers vote in favor, it could open him up to investigation for possible illicit campaign financing.

“I think there’s a conflict of interest, and an attempt by President Morales to try to protect his own interests in light of the ongoing investigation and probe,” said Adriana Beltran, director for citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America, which advocates for human rights in the region.

Beltran said CICIG and Velasquez have made remarkable progress in strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala “despite constant attacks and efforts to try to undermine (their) work,” and that “there’s still much more that needs to be done.”

The commission released security camera video showing perhaps a dozen military jeeps taking up position curbside outside the headquarters Friday, some with soldiers manning machine gun turrets. CICIG spokesman Matias Ponce said they were there for a few minutes, and later returned and drove by without stopping. Ponce also told The Associated Press that police and army vehicles intercepted a car carrying a team from the commission on a street in the capital.

Rodas called the deployment an “oversize and intimidating presence.”

“It is an unnecessary military movement that reminds us of days past when there were coups, and now we are a democracy - nobody is above the law,” he said, adding that he would work to guarantee the safety of the commissioner and his team.

Prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barrera said an investigation was opened “to see if any crime was committed” by deploying the vehicles.

The commission’s work with Guatemalan prosecutors has led to high-profile graft probes that ensnared dozens of politicians and businesspeople and even led to the downfall of former President Otto Perez Molina and his then-vice president.

The military deployment came the same day a U.N. human rights team was expelled from the Central American nation of Nicaragua after the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights published a critical report accusing President Daniel Ortega’s government of violent repression of opposition protests.

There was no immediate indication of a link between the two events. </s> GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala’s Constitutional Court orders President Jimmy Morales to allow head of UN anti-graft body to re-enter country.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales announced Sunday he was expelling the head of the U.N.-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, known as CICIG in Spanish. But the move was quickly blocked by the country's top court. Background on the commission and its role in Guatemala:

Guatemala's Congress, under heavy international pressure, voted in 2007 to ratify the commission, which is made up of foreign experts to help local law enforcement build cases and gain expertise in fighting organized crime and police corruption. The country had seen an explosion of drug gang violence and corruption in the decade after the end of a 1960-1996 civil war in which 200,000 people died. Opponents said the commission was an unconstitutional violation of Guatemala's sovereignty.

The commission began by going after police corruption and drug gang enforcers and kidnappers. Its recommendations led to the firing or resignation of more than 1,700 police officers, several senior prosecutors and six Supreme Court judges.

Its scope rapidly expanded to broader political corruption. In 2008, it helped prosecutors build a case accusing former President Alfonso Portillo of stealing millions from the country's department. While a local court absolved him, Portillo was extradited to the U.S. and served time on money laundering charges. In 2010, it helped clear President Alvaro Colom of allegations he'd orchestrated the murder of a prominent lawyer. It also helped prosecute former and interior ministers for cases including the slayings of prison inmates.

Its crowning achievement was the 2015 resignation of then-President Otto Perez Molina and his Vice-President Roxana Baldetti, who remain jailed awaiting trial on a variety of corruption charges. The wide-ranging investigations have swept up many business people, politicians and bureaucrats. A judge this year gave prosecutors the green light to move ahead with a corruption probe of President Jimmy Morales' son and brother.

The country's chief prosecutor, together with Velasquez, announced Friday that they were moving to strip Morales himself of his immunity from prosecution in order to probe alleged irregularities in the financing of his 2015 presidential campaign. If the Supreme Court approved the request, it would be up to Congress to decide on removing immunity.

Morales didn't address the future of the commission itself. Its current mandate, approved by the government and the U.N., extends through September 2019. The Court injunction blocking expulsion of Velasquez means Morales the future of order itself is in question.

Guatemalan political forces have repeatedly tried to get rid of the commission, but public and international pressure has forced them to back off and renew its two-year terms.

The citizens of other countries in the region have watched its work admiringly, but paradoxically its success in prosecuting top politicians in Guatemala has made it unlikely that another leader in the region would invite the creation of such a commission. </s> GUATEMALA CITY — In a blunt rebuke to President Jimmy Morales, Guatemala's Constitutional Court ordered that the head of a U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission be let back in the country two weeks after Morales barred him as he moved to defang the investigative body.

The unanimous ruling late Sunday by the court's five magistrates marked the second time in as many years that the court has reversed Morales' efforts to keep Ivan Velasquez out of Guatemala. The commission's chairman has pressed a number of high-profile graft probes, including one pending against the president himself.

There was no immediate public reaction from the president. His spokesman, Alfredo Brito, did not respond to phone calls Sunday night seeking comment.

Morales announced in late August that he would not renew the mandate of the commission for another two-year term, effectively giving it a year to wind down and end its activities.

A few days later the president said that Velasquez, a Colombian national who was in Washington at the time, would be prohibited from re-entering this Central American nation. Morales called him "a person who attacks order and public security in the country."

Morales' order touched off public protests in support of the body, and multiple appeals were promptly filed with the Constitutional Court.

In issuing its decision, the court said its ruling must be obeyed and cannot be appealed.

Morales said earlier this month that he was "not obligated to obey illegal rulings," which observers interpreted as a clear allusion to the court's previous checks on his actions.

Last year, Morales had declared Velasquez persona non grata and tried to have him expelled from Guatemala, but that move was blocked by the Constitutional Court.

Among the investigations that the commission, known as CICIG for its initials in Spanish, has brought in Guatemala was one that led to the resignation and jailing of former President Otto Perez Molina and his vice president. Others have ensnared dozens of politicians, public officials and businesspeople.

Morales is suspected in a case involving more than $1 million in purported illicit campaign financing. In August, Guatemala's Supreme Court allowed a motion by CICIG and Guatemalan prosecutors seeking to lift the president's immunity from prosecution to go to lawmakers. If they approve it, he would be opened up to possible prosecution.

Morales denies wrongdoing, but critics have seen his effort to wind down CICIG and bar Velasquez as a maneuver to protect himself as well as relatives and associates also in the sights of investigators.

The president had asked the United Nations to designate someone to replace Velasquez, but the world body opted to keep him in charge for the time being, working remotely from abroad. The U.N. defended CICIG and its commissioner, saying the body has played "a pivotal role in the fight against impunity in Guatemala." </s> GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Monday showed signs of wavering on his decision to expel the head of a United Nations-backed anti-graft unit, who is investigating the leader's campaign financing.

Morales on Sunday declared Ivan Velasquez, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), "persona non grata" and ordered him to leave the Central American country immediately. Hours later, the nation's top court suspended the decision.

After two days of protests in the capital and criticism from the United States and European Union, there were signs Morales could backtrack on his initial insistence that he had the authority to expel Velasquez.

Government spokesperson Heinz Heimann said on Monday Morales was studying the court decision to suspend his order to force out Velasquez, saying the government would respect the law.

"The resolution is being legally analyzed, respecting the rule of law, the laws and separation of powers," said Heimann, who also "completely" ruled out rumors the government could declare a state of emergency due to the protests.

It is not yet clear if Morales will challenge the court, a move that could put him in contempt and at risk of losing his job, according to constitutional experts consulted by Reuters.

"Bring Jimmy Morales to justice!," hundreds of students chanted in unison as they marched towards the presidential palace in downtown Guatemala City on Monday.

Velasquez, who previously investigated drug cartels and paramilitary groups in his homeland Colombia, was declared "persona non grata" days after the CICIG said Morales should be investigated over alleged illicit funding in his election run.

With powers to prepare crime and corruption cases, the CICIG was in 2015 instrumental in removing from office former Guatemalan president Otto Perez after identifying him as a key player in an alleged multi-million-dollar corruption racket.

The CICIG has been strongly backed by western powers.

"We expect the Guatemalan government to allow CICIG to do its critical work without interference," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.

The European Union said the decision to declare Velasquez persona non grata put at great risk the work initiated by the CICIG on strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala.

Morales, a former comedian, won election in late 2015 after riding a wave of public discontent over the corruption scandals that brought down his predecessor Perez. (Reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel and Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Luis Echeverria; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, along with Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart, Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel, and State Attorney Luis Donado say that they will not abide by the Constitutional Court's resolution in which ordered President Morales and his cabinet to allow Iván Velásquez Gómez, the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, to enter Guatemala.