Central America

Amparo of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala annuls the suspension of Semilla’s legal status

Photo: República.gt

July 15 |

The Constitutional Court of Guatemala informed Thursday that it granted a provisional protection to Movimiento Semilla, which was requested by the party after the Seventh Court of Criminal Instance ordered the suspension of its legal status.

In a statement published in social networks, the Court explained that the protection opens the way for “the second electoral round (presidential) to take place on the indicated date and with the participation of the officialized candidates”.

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Earlier, Bernardo Arévalo, presidential candidate of Semilla, said that the injunction had been filed “in defense of democracy, institutionality and constitutionality”.

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On the other hand, the director of the Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, José Ramiro Muñoz, made known that they filed a constitutional action of amparo against the decision of the Seventh Court to suspend the legal status of Semilla, alleging that only the Tribunal can take this type of legal action.

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“(It is the) only entity in constitutional material, as the law states, to be able, suspend or cancel any political organization. That is why we have filed this constitutional action of amparo”, he said this Thursday in a press conference.

On Wednesday night, the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, informed about this suspension against Semilla for the alleged falsification of citizens’ signatures for the party’s authorization process; the party rejected the accusation.

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The decision unleashed several reactions, including the suspension of the electoral campaign of Sandra Torres, candidate of Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), who would compete with Arévalo in the August 20 runoff.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is respectful of the resolutions of the Constitutional Court. However, as stated in the resolution, the same is “without prejudice to the powers of criminal prosecution that fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Ministry and regulated in Articles 251 of the Constitution of the Republic and 251 of the Electoral Law and Political Parties,” the Prosecutor’s Office told CNN about this decision of the Court.

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Related Topics:Central America Guatemala

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