Guatemala’s ex-president takes Geneva to court
Former Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and his former Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann have filed a criminal complaint against Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa. They consider themselves victims of defamation and slander in the “Sperisen Affair”.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
“In the ongoing criminal proceedings against Erwin Sperisen, the first prosecutor repeatedly refers to them as members of a criminal organisation, even though they have been acquitted by various courts, including in Europe. In so doing, the prosecutor deliberately undermines the honor of President Giammattei and Minister Vielmann,” wrote the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Dominic Nellen, in a letter to the media on Sunday.
+ Swiss court annuls Sperisen’s 15-year sentence
The criminal complaint was lodged on August 29, just a few days before Erwin Sperisen’s fourth trial opened in a Geneva court on Monday. The former head of the Guatemalan National Civil Police is accused of complicity in the murder of a police officer during an operation at the Pavon penitentiary in 2006.
Translated from French by DeepL/jdp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
More
Aussie adoptee gains Swiss citizenship at 54 thanks to old envelope
More
Thousands of emigrants’ descendants in Argentina demand Swiss citizenship
More
Switzerland’s most renowned trans person no longer wants to be a woman
More
Solothurn, the Swiss city that goes up to 11
More
Explainer: Switzerland gears up for driverless transport era
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.