ARRESTS IN THE RIVERA CASE

Guatemala, April 8, 2010. On April 8 of this year and as a result of the close to eighteen months of joint investigative work carried out by the Public Prosecutor's’ Office, the National Civilian Police and CICIG to individualize, identify and arrest the material and intellectual authors of the murder of former Ministry of the Interior advisor Mr. VÍCTOR RIVERA AZUAJE, MARLENY JUDITH SOSA SOSA was arrested in Los Amates and ISRAEL BETANCOURT VELA , CRUZ MAGADALENO REYES GARCIA and WALTER IVANOVICH MONROY CRUZ were arrested in Guatemala City. According to the investigation, these individuals are members of a well organized criminal group that are dedicated to committing different types of crimes. Mrs. Sosa Sosa is accused of the crimes of conspiracy to obstruct justice and of illicit association; Bethancourt Vela is accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice and of illicit association and Monroy Cruz is accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice, of illicit association and of material falsification of public documents.

According to evidence collected, the individuals named have been conducting a number of criminal acts related to the murder of RIVERA AZUAJE in cooperation with the material and intellectual participants agreeing to carry out different actions, among other things, to hide and destroy important evidence as well as conspiring to murder members of the very organization involved in the crimes carried out by the criminal group.

The material evidence that supports the charges against these individuals is based on scientific evidence and the application of special investigation methods that allowed the Eighth Lower Criminal Court against Drug-trafficking and Crimes against the Environment of Guatemala to issue the corresponding arrest warrants.

The murder of the former advisor to the Ministry of the Interior, Víctor José Rivera Azuaje, was perpetrated on April 7, 2008, at approximately 11 p.m. when he was driving onVista Hermosa Blvd. in Guatemala City with Ms. María del Rosario Melgar Martínez, with whom he had been at a restaurant of that part of the city with other persons. The Special Prosecutor’s Office for CICIG took on, ordered and reoriented the investigation at the end of the month of October 2008. The investigation was initiated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Crimes against Life Unit, which was then headed by former prosecutor Álvaro Matus, who was dismissed from the case due to irregularities in the direction and management of the case and that led to an investigation and accusation against him.

Investigation work continues to arrest other perpetrators of the crime.

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VEHICLE INVOLVED IN ACCIDENT DOES NOT BELONG TO CICIG

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala reports that the 2009 Nissan vehicle with plates P314DRY involved in an accident this morning does not belong to and is not assigned to CICIG. Moreover, the personnel involved in the accident does not work for CICIG.