Guatemala, May 20, 2013. Today, Court B of the First Instance for High-risk Matters upheld the decision to remand the lawyer Susana María de la Asunción Luarca Saracho in custody pending trial. The lawyer is charged with criminal association, human trafficking and the use of forged documents.

At the hearing to review the coercive measures, Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez declared the petition of the accused, who sought to be released, to be inadmissible. The reasons cited by the judge to substantiate his decision were the risk of obstruction of the investigation and the fact that the circumstances which led to the order to remand Luarca Saracho in custody pending trial remained unchanged.

The judge set June 13 as the date of the pre-trial hearing to decide whether Luarca Saracho should be tried on the above-mentioned charges.

Background Facts
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) accuses Luarca Saracho of leading a criminal organization that worked with the Asociación Primavera to process illegal adoptions. In the present case, eight other people have been prosecuted for their alleged involvement in illegal adoptions.

On October 25, 2011, the Eighth Court of Criminal Sentencing sentenced the attorney Alma Beatriz Valle Flores to 21 years and 4 months in prison and Enriqueta Francisca Noriega Cano to 16 years in prison—the pair were charged with participating in the illegal adoption of the child Angely Liseth Hernández Rodríguez.

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) serves as a complementary prosecutor in the criminal proceedings.