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The paradox of the 'Diario Militar' judge: requesting protection from the institutions for which he went into exile

2023-03-22T05:04:49.281Z


Miguel Ángel Gálvez Aguilar sent nine retired soldiers and police officers to trial, accused of crimes against humanity and forced disappearance in Guatemala


Guatemalan judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez, at his home in San Lucas, in December 2015. Moises Castillo (AP)

Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez has been in exile for four months due to the pressure and intimidation he experienced after imprisoning and sending to trial nine retired police officers and soldiers, accused of crimes against humanity committed during the armed conflict in Guatemala in the case known as Military Diary or Death Dossier.

The jurist has said that he had no choice but to go into exile because he considered that in Guatemala there are no guarantees to defend himself against unfounded complaints and because the police who were supposed to take care of him did not notice or stop the intimidating practices of monitoring and surveillance that led him to request the measures precautionary measures that the Inter-American Court granted him in July 2022. In response to the American justice system, the State now offers Gálvez two only guarantees for him to return to the country:

In his 23 years as a lawyer, Gálvez has added dozens of resolutions against organized crime groups, corruption structures and war criminals.

In 2012, he put dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Five years later, he also prosecuted former President Otto Pérez Molina and several former members of his government cabinet, accused in the customs fraud case known as La Línea, which was investigated by the extinct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). .

For his work, Gálvez (64 years old) earned the nickname of "Honorable Judge" on social networks.

But it was not all applause for the High Risk Judge, a Guatemalan legal figure to designate magistrates responsible for trials that may represent a personal danger to them.

The criminalization alert also came from the internet.

On May 6, 2022, hours after its resolution in the Diario Militar case, one of the directors of the Foundation against Terrorism (FCT), Ricardo Méndez Ruiz, published a tweet in which he put it on the target: "It is the turn of Miguel Ángel Gálvez.

The @FCTGuatemala takes over."

Created for the defense and support of war veterans, the foundation headed by Méndez Ruiz has ended up leading a criminal prosecution against judges, prosecutors and journalists who are uncomfortable for the power of the day.

As he warned in the message against Gálvez, they seek to bring to justice jurists whom they consider "criminals" or who have committed irregularities.

In his target have also been former head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI), Francisco Sandoval;

Judge Ericka Aifán and the president of elPeriódico, Jose Rubén Zamora.

Sandoval and Aifán brought to justice dozens of officials and former officials accused of corruption in government institutions and for alleged vices in the election of magistrates and justice.

Zamora, for his part, has been in prison for more than seven months accused of money laundering,

The Lighthouse

.

The arrest of the president of elPeriódico was ordered after publishing various articles and journalistic investigations that denounced possible acts of corruption during the government of President Alejandro Giammattei, such as the well-known Russian plot.

In the case of Gálvez, they point to him for prevarication and for creating the figure of "provisional prison", although in the text of the complaint he filed on May 11, 2022, the basis for the pointing to the judge was not entirely clear.

He also attributed cases to him that had not been processed in his court.

To ensure that officials are not subject to spurious or political complaints, Guatemala activates the pre-trial or preliminary investigation process, but Gálvez has assured that, in his case, this mechanism was not effective.

As the preliminary trial progressed, it was understood that the FCT was pointing fingers at Gálvez for the delay in the first declaration of the detainees.

The Guatemalan Constitution establishes that those arrested must testify before a judge within 24 hours of their capture.

Gálvez defended himself by arguing that it is "impossible" to meet that deadline when the cases involve more than 50 suspects, such as that of La Línea or others under the charge of the Public Ministry and the CICIG.

On November 15, the jurist released a video in which he announced his resignation and exile due to the lack of guarantees to face criminal proceedings in Guatemala.

The machinery that was activated with the FCT's complaint was advancing at full speed despite the provisional measures that the Inter-American Court issued in favor of the judge in July 2022, precisely to ensure justice in favor of the victims of the Diario Militar case.

The Military Diary

The Military Diary is a declassified military and police intelligence document that records the torture, murders, and disappearances of 183 social leaders and members of guerrilla organizations, considered "internal enemies" between 1983 and 1985. Guatemalan justice had not followed up on the case. until, in 2012, the Inter-American Court condemned the State and ordered an investigation into the facts.

The first arrests in the case were made in May 2021, by authorization of Judge Gálvez.

Then, the Public Ministry assured that the people listed in the Military Diary were subjected to "various acts of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and in some cases extrajudicial execution."

In a hearing to monitor the provisional security measures that the Inter-American Court issued in favor of Gálvez, the jurist recalled the escalation of intimidation and criminalization against him.

The magistrate decided to leave the country after noticing that the monitoring continued and that he had been photographed together with his underage son.

When the judge of the IHR Court Verónica González asked what measures the State can ensure for the safe return of Gálvez and his family to Guatemala, the director of the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (Copadeh), Ramiro Contreras, pointed out that The National Civil Police (PNC) always offered perimeter protection to the judge's residence.

But the return of the judge rather depends on the cessation of legal actions that were undertaken against him due to the FCT complaint.

Gálvez's specific request before the Inter-American Court is that Guatemala refrain from "any action of persecution and harassment" against him and his family and that it end the "criminalization due to its resolutions in cases of serious violations of the rights humans".

The judge reminded the judges of the Inter-American Court that the alleged police protection offered by the Government did not prevent two armed men from following him to his house on the day of his resolution in the Diario Militar case.

The court appointment in Costa Rica was attended by the Secretary General of the Public Ministry, Angel Pineda, included in the Engel list of the US State Department that indicates corrupt and undemocratic actors in Central America.

When Judge González asked about the lack of investigation into the surveillance and intimidation denounced by Gálvez, Pineda pointed out that the judge did not follow the path of the complaint, the only one followed by the Guatemalan justice institutions to "find the truth." .

Galvez expressed that he did not want to file a complaint with the Public Ministry because that meant sharing information with an institution that does not inspire credibility in him.

For the lawyers who accompany the judge, the causes that generate the risk are still valid.

For the representatives of the government structure, the State of Guatemala would "respect" the commitment to protect Gálvez, with police protection.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-03-22

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