COURT ORDERS PROSECUTION OF LAWYER FOR ILLEGAL ADOPTION

Guatemala, August 7, 2013. Today, the Eighth Court of the First Criminal Instance ordered that lawyer Ilda Yaresa Medina Vielman be prosecuted for having alleged ties to a criminal organization that sought to profit from the illegal adoption of the child Dafne Nayeli Camey Pérez (or Yajaira Noemí Muyus [the identity used to process the illegal adoption]).

At the initial appearance, Judge Marta Sierra charged the accused with trafficking in humans and criminal association as well as setting bail at GTQ 100,000. Furthermore, the judge imposed house arrest and issued a ne exeat order.

Medina was arrested in the early hours at her home in Zone 5, Guatemala City, by the National Civil Police (PNC), with the support of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and CICIG. The accused was involved in the illegal adoption procedure, which began after Judge Mario Peralta Castañeda declared that the girl had been abandoned. Peralta Castañeda made this declaration despite the DNA evidence at his disposal demonstrating that the girl was not the daughter of the mother who handed her over for adoption.

The judge excused herself from continuing to hear the case on the grounds that a femicide court should do so for jurisdiction reasons.

CICIG acts as a complementary prosecutor in these criminal proceedings.

Background
Gloida Eunice Pérez filed a criminal complaint before the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) alleging she had received threats. She indicated that on September 10, 2006, she was forced to hand over her daughter, Dafne Nayeli Camey Pérez, for adoption.

The child's adoption procedure began when the Asociación Primavera filed false papers enabling the minor to be handed over to a foreign family. The accused individuals failed to fulfill their objective as the authorities were able to locate the child, who currently resides with her biological mother.

Seven other individuals are also involved in the case, including Judge Mario Peralta Castañeda and lawyer Susana María de la Asunción Luarca Saracho.