Guatemalan officials backtracked Thursday on plans to extradite the country's former interior minister from Spain, saying justice would be better served if he is tried in Spain.
Former Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann faces 10 murder charges stemming from incidents at two prisons in Guatemala. A Spanish court approved his extradition in May.
But on Thursday, Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz told CNN that the country planned to end its extradition request because of "a lack of guarantees in the process." (CNN)CICIG even supported the Guatemalan government's decision. I don't know.
Portillo was found not guilty. Giammattei was released because they did not have enough evidence to try him. And now the government and CICIG have thrown in the towel with regards to Vielmann.
On the one hand, it's a wise decision. It just didn't look like they were going to secure a conviction given recent court decisions in Guatemala. If the choice is between justice in Spain and no justice in Guatemala, I understand where they are coming from. But don't tell me that justice would be better served if he is tried in Spain. Justice is best served in the country where he committed his alleged crimes.
However, I wonder how much of this decision was also driven by the strong possibility that Otto Perez Molina will be the next president of Guatemala. There's just too much uncertainty surrounding his administration's approach to prosecuting human rights violators and former officials implicated in shadowy activities.
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