At the forum "Young and Committed", Commissioner Iván Velásquez called upon the youth to join forces in fighting impunity.
PRESS RELEASE 017
COURT SENDS ALLEGED FRONT MAN TO TRIAL
Guatemala, March 22, 2012. Today, the Ninth Court of the First Criminal Instance ordered that alleged front man of the Mendoza family Rubén Estuardo Rosales Sánchez be sent to trial. The Mendoza family maintains links to the Sayaxché cartel from Petén. The court found sufficient evidence against Rosales to try him on charges of laundering money and other assets and conspiracy to launder money and other assets. The accused party has been held in prison since August 17, 2010 due to his implication in the Víctor Rivera (former Ministry of the Interior advisor) crime.
The investigations of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) identified the relationship Rosales Sánchez maintained with the Mendoza family to buy assets with deeds in his name, but which form part of the Mendoza family's assets.
Statements provided by a number of witnesses during the proceedings have indicated that the Mendoza family conducted illegal activities related to drug trafficking between 1990 and 2005.
In the judicial proceeding held today, it was confirmed that CICIG would continue to participate as a complementary prosecutor to the criminal proceedings. The court scheduled a hearing for March 27, 2012 to enable the procedural parties to offer evidence.
Listen to press release. Voice of Diego Alvarez, CICIG Press Officer.