Former Guatemala Legislative Leader Arrested Over Graft Cases

A former legislative leader was arrested by authorities after he was indicted of trying to bribe a judge in Guatemala City.  The former legislative leader's arrest on Wednesday follows the controversial detention of high-profile officials charged of corruption in Guatemala.

Gudy Rivera attempted to bribe Judge Claudia Escobar to favor ruling on the vice president of that time, Roxana Baldetti. The previous legislative leader was arrested after a warrant of arrest was issued to him. He was charged of influence trafficking and bribery, according to Yahoo. Rivera, a close ally of former President Perez Molina claimed that he was a man of law and he would submit himself to justice.

The day the former legislative leader was arrested, a U.N. commission and prosecutors in-charge of investigating on criminal networks in the nation expressed their worries for the safety of some people.  They said that they were concerned of an alleged ringleader of La Linea, and Salvador Gonzalez, its supposed financier and Juan Carlos Monzon, Baldetti's former private secretary. "We fear for their lives because the conditions of the penitentiary system where they are being held are so insecure," prosecutor Francisco Sandoval said, The Eagle reports.

Rivera's detention is one of the controversial cases of arresting a public official accused of graft and corruption.  Former President Otto Perez Molina, his Vice President Roxana Baldetti and other officers were earlier arrested due to graft cases, reported by ABC News.  In 2014, Rivera tried to pay former Judge Escobar to block her decision to remove Baldetti as the secretary-general of the Patriot Party. The judge publicly admitted the bribery case and confessed that she received death threats.

After Escobar' admission of bribery and threats, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission ordered the government to protect her. The then-president, Perez Molina and Baldetti quit their positions last year.  They were held in bars for their involvement in the customs graft scheme called La Linea or "The Line."

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former legislative leader arrested, Gudy Rivera arrested, Gudy Rivera bribery case, Guatemala graft cases, Guatemala president and vice president arrested, Judge Claudia Escobar, La Linea

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