ROSENBERG CASE JUDGE SUSPENDS HEARING

Guatemala, June 14, 2013. Today, on his own initiative, the judge of the Third Court of the First Criminal Instance, Oscar Sagastume, decided to suspend the Rosenberg case hearing where Mario Luis Paz Mejía (perpetrator), an effective cooperator in the murder case of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg, was set to be heard.

The judge of the Third Court explained that the hearing was suspended because it was discovered that, after 18 months, the judge of the Second Court of the First Instance, Carlos Aguilar Revolorio, had not remitted an appeal filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and CICIG on February 6, 2012 to the corresponding chamber.

Furthermore, the judge added that the appeals lodged during the previous year would be forwarded to the Second Chamber where they will be heard and appropriately resolved.

Judge Sagastume said he would not hear the case until the chamber had ruled on the participation of CICIG. Therefore, the case proceedings shall resume when notice has been given of a final decision on the participation of CICIG in the proceedings as a complementary prosecutor.

CICIG hereby confirms that at no stage, neither on previous occasions nor in relation to the question at hand, has it influenced the suspension of case proceedings. Such decisions are made exclusively by the judges.

In relation to the report of April 12, 2013 drafted by the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) on the alleged violation of due process in the Rosenberg case as claimed by the brothers Francisco José Ramón Valdés Paiz and José Estuardo Valdés Paiz, CICIG hereby calls to mind the following:

“ASSESSMENT OF THE INVESTIGATION
[...]  The parties to the proceedings have used legal remedies, including 14 amparo appeals—11 of which were filed by the accused (without distinction), 2 by CICIG and 1 by another accused individual.

[...] Through the studies into and the analysis of the information included in the present case, it is possible to determine that the parties to the proceedings, including the technical defence of the complainants and the aforementioned accused, have over used said constitutional appeal, which has in turn impeded their legal statuses from being clarified within a reasonable period.

THEREFORE:
The Human Rights Ombudsman, in consideration of and based on the powers bestowed by the Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and Decree 54-86, reformed by Decree 32-87—both of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala;

RULES:
I. That the violation of due process of the complainants José Estuardo Valdés Paiz and Francisco Ramón Valdés Paiz be declared as well as the right to be tried within a reasonable period. This declaration is made in light of the participation of the two individuals as accused parties in criminal proceedings C 01070-2009-00883.

II. That the courts be declared responsible for committing the aforementioned violation. The courts in question are ordinary, constitutional courts and were responsible for processing and ruling on different legal actions, which were not resolved within the time periods set forth by law."(Bold text added by CICIG)