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Ex-Guatemala police chief Sperisen to be released

Erwin Sperisen
Ex-Guatemala police chief Erwin Sperisen will be released from Swiss prison. Keystone

Guatemala's former police chief, Erwin Sperisen, who was convicted of aiding and abetting murder, will be released from prison on Monday. The Criminal and Enforcement Court in Geneva decided this on Thursday.

Sperisen’s lawyers had previously filed an application for a suspension of sentence. In doing so, they referred to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which has now become legally binding. 

In the verdict published in June, the Strasbourg judges found that the defendant’s right to an impartial trial had been violated in the Sperisen case.

Sperisen is a dual Swiss-Guatemalan citizen. He was arrested in Geneva in 2012, where he had fled with his family in 2007. In April 2018, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Geneva criminal court for aiding and abetting seven murders in a 2006 police operation in Guatemala. 

The Federal Court confirmed this judgment in November 2019.


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