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(CNN Spanish) - The Guatemalan Congress amended the Criminal Code to grant procedural benefits to prosecutors for serious crimes, such as corruption, among others.
This Tuesday in plenary and without further discussion, 81 of 158 deputies approved the modifications, including the Law of Acceptance of Charges, whose first version dates from 2017.
The initial proposal sought to reduce judicial default. The defendants had to accept partially or totally the charges, with guarantees and without generating impunity,
as published in his account the extinct Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala.
This time, the congressmen approved the Law of Acceptance of Charges with amendments that grant reductions to penalties from 20% to 50%. Benefits
to those who have committed corruption offenses, such as illicit financing, peculation, bribery and even money laundering. The benefit is granted to those who decide to collaborate with the Public Ministry, before or during a criminal process. A large part of the cases of the extinct CICIG include these types of crimes, and dozens of former officials face jail and criminal proceedings for many of these accusations. With this measure your crimes could be commutable.
Lawmakers excluded from these benefits those who have been accused of genocide, extrajudicial execution, forced disappearance, torture,
homicide, parricide, murder, rape, kidnapping, extortion and narcoactivity, among other crimes.
But while this was happening inside the chamber, several members of civil society, elected deputies, activists and students of the University of San Carlos were protesting against the decision of the deputies.
Manfredo Marroquín, former presidential candidate for the Encuentro for Guatemala party, told CNN that with these reforms "the deputies are creating the conditions for Guatemala to be governed by criminal and mafia networks." Marroquin says "that this modification opens the doors of prisons and also to impunity."
Deputy Leonel Lira, of the same party, said he voted in favor of this law "because the initiative is stronger and has greater restrictions and elements that give more strength to the Public Ministry and the Judicial Branch."
Although the deputies approved the Law of Acceptance of Charges, it must be published in the official newspaper and three months later it would take effect.
However, things could change, as happened in September 2017, when this same legislation modified the penal code, favoring those who committed serious crimes, with commutable penalties. But an amparo in the Constitutional Court stopped the law before it was published.
Corruption