UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday expressed shock at Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales' declaration to expel the head of a UN anti-corruption commission in the country.
The decision to expel Ivan Velasquez, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), came immediately after a Friday meeting between Guterres and Morales at UN Headquarters in New York, during which the UN secretary-general expressed his confidence in Velasquez and UN support for the mandate of his commission.
In a statement issued through his spokesman, Guterres expressed disappointment at the expulsion. "Under Commissioner Velasquez's leadership, CICIG has made a decisive contribution to strengthening justice-sector institutions in Guatemala, helping to ensure justice was done in numerous cases. Mr. Velasquez has worked tirelessly to promote a culture that upholds the rule of law and rejects corruption," said the statement.
Guterres expected that Velasquez will be treated by the Guatemalan authorities with the respect due to his functions as an international civil servant, it said.
CICIG, set up in December 2006 under a treaty-level agreement between the United Nations and Guatemala, is an international body that helps Guatemalan authorities investigate sensitive and difficult cases. Its ultimate goal is to strengthen Guatemala's national judicial institutions to allow them to continue to confront illegal groups and organized crime in the future.
Morales declared Velasquez's expulsion after Guatemalan chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana, who is working with CICIG, announced on Friday that she was asking the Supreme Court to recommend stripping Morales of his immunity from prosecution in order to investigate financing of his 2015 campaign. Congress will make a decision at the court's recommendation.
Velasquez's commission was key to the fall of Morales' immediate predecessor, Otto Perez Molina, who was forced to resign in 2015 and was prosecuted.
