Virginia Laparra
Lilian Virginia Laparra Rivas (born 5 January 1985) is a Guatemalan lawyer and former anti-corruption prosecutor. She worked for the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity between 2013 and 2020, trying over 200 people for corruption. As a result of her work, she was arbitrarily detained between February 2022 and January 2024, and fled Guatemala after receiving an additional prison sentence in July 2024.
Career
Laparra was born and raised in Quetzaltenango. She studied law and worked for the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Corruption, working alongside the United Nations International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala. Based in a court in Quetzaltenango, it went on to have authority in the departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, Totonicapán, and San Marcos. Between its establishment in 2013 and the end of its mandate in 2020, the organisation tried over 200 people for corruption.[1][2][3][4]
In 2019, the then-President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, did not renew Laparra's mandate to continue with the Special Prosecutor's Office, with it becoming defunct as of 2020. She continued to work as a prosecutor in Quetzaltenango.[5]
Arrest, trial and imprisonment
During her tenure with the Special Prosecutor's Office, Laparra raised concerns that a local judge, Lesther Castellanos, was leaking information about corruption cases. The accusation led to Castellanos being sanctioned. Castellanos subsequently filed a joint criminal complaint against Laparra with the Foundation Against Terrorism, accusing her of "abuse of authority".[2]
In February 2022, Laparra was dismissed by the Attorney General, María Consuelo Porras, and was ordered to serve pre-trial detention, serving the first five months of this in solitary confinement at a prison in Guatemala City, following which she was transferred to Matamoros prison. In December 2022, Laparra was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for abuse of authority.[2][5][6]
On 26 December 2023, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered for Laparra to be released within five days. On 3 January 2024, Laparra was released from custody after 680 days of detention. She was originally placed under house arrest.[7]
On 29 January 2024, Laparra requested that Porras reinstate her in her previous role as a prosecutor in Quetzaltenango.[7]
In July 2024, Laparra was given an additional five year commutable prison sentence on new charges linked to her prosecutor work, in addition to her fine. Following these new charges, Laparra fled Guatemala, initially settling in neighbouring Mexico. She wrote a public letter describing her decision to go into exile, stating she was "treated inhumanely" while in prison and that she had left Guatemala in orde to "preserve [her] life".[2][5][8]
Response
In November 2022, Amnesty International declared that Laparra was a prisoner of conscience, stating its concern at the systemic pattern of criminalisation imposed by the Guatemalan judiciary and Attorney General against former judges, prosecutors, human rights activists, and journalists.[5][9]
On 18 May 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion considering Laparra to be arbitrarily detained, and called for her immediate release.[7]
Human Rights Watch described the charges against Laparra as "spurious" and "retaliation" for her high-profile corruption cases against public officials and organised crime figures.[10]
After Laparra fled Guatemala in self-imposed exile, the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, lamented that "corrupt officials walk the streets with impunity" and that justice officials such as Laparra continued to be harassed by a "corrupt minority" within the Attorney General's office, including Arévalo himself.[5]
In 2025, Laparra received the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk's Sir Henry Brooke Award, after being nominated by the Fund for Global Human Rights.[2][11]
References
- ^ "Opinion No. 24/2023 concerning Lilian Virginia Laparra Rivas (Guatemala)". Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. 2023-05-18. Archived from the original on 2025-07-27. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ a b c d e Siddique, Haroon (2025-03-05). "Exile is 'a little bit less than death' for lawyer forced to flee Guatemala". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2025-04-30. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "EUA insta a fiscal de Guatemala a perseguir corruptos y no a su mismo equipo". El Economista (in Spanish). 2020-10-02. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "El arresto de Virginia Laparra "es una vergüenza para la Justicia guatemalteca", dicen abogados de América". El Periódico (in Spanish). 2022-04-21. Archived from the original on 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ a b c d e Pérez, Sonia (2024-07-18). "Abandona Guatemala una reconocida exfiscal anticorrupción que denunció persecución judicial". AP News (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-01-16. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ Rabanales, Melisa (2022-05-31). "No ver la luz, el caso de Virginia Laparra". Agencia Ocote (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-07-14. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ a b c "Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. 2024-08-20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-03-23. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "Guatemala: Amnesty International condemns new judgment against former prosecutor Virginia Laparra". Amnesty International. 2024-07-10. Archived from the original on 2025-06-14. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "Guatemala: Amnesty International demands immediate release of Virginia Laparra". Amnistía Internacional. 2022-12-05. Archived from the original on 2025-06-13. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "World Report 2025" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-07-16. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
- ^ "Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Wins 2025 Sir Henry Brooke Award". The Fund for Global Human Rights. 2025-02-07. Archived from the original on 2025-06-02. Retrieved 2025-07-27.