The Amparo Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) revoked the arrest warrants issued against personnel of the defunct International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and former prosecutors of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) linked to the investigation of the Odebrecht case, judicial sources reported this Monday, April 13.
The orders had been issued by the Third Court of Appeals; However, almost a year later, the Court of Amparo determined that this resolution lacked legal basis.
Among the people identified were Iván Velásquez, former head of the CICIG; Luz Adriana Camargo, Attorney General of Colombia; the former attorney general of Guatemala Thelma Aldana, and the former head of the FECI Juan Francisco Sandoval. The action originated from a complaint filed by former Minister of Communications Alejandro Sinibaldi, prosecuted for corruption in said case.
According to the resolution, the Appeals Chamber acted outside its powers by ordering arrests and declaring rebellion, powers that correspond exclusively to first instance judges in charge of controlling the investigation.
The Court of Amparo also pointed out that a court cannot replace the natural judge to dictate measures of personal coercion, which is why it concluded that there was excess in the exercise of its functions.
The magistrates indicated that any arrest request should have been submitted to the court controlling the case.
On June 4, 2025, a group of former prosecutors from the Public Ministry, including Thelma Aldana, rejected the accusations against them in the Odebrecht case.
In a statement, Aldana described the accusations as “criminalization strategies” by the Prosecutor’s Office led by Consuelo Porras.
The document was also signed by former prosecutors Siomara Sosa and Juan Francisco Sandoval, who stated that the actions of the Public Ministry seek to “perpetuate the impunity” of people identified in the case.
In the statement, they mentioned Alejandro Sinibaldi, Manuel Baldizón and Arturo Batres, who, according to them, had received more than US$20 million in bribes from Odebrecht.
Sinibaldi served as Minister of Communications during the government of Otto Pérez Molina (2012-2015), while Baldizón was a presidential candidate before being arrested in the United States for money laundering.
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