(CNN) — Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) is carrying out “search, inspection, search and seizure of evidence” at the headquarters of the Citizens’ Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) this Thursday, prosecutors said on Twitter.
This comes a day after a court ordered the suspension of the Semilla group, whose candidate Bernardo Arévalo advanced to the presidential runoff. The Public Prosecutor states that in his investigation “there are indications that perhaps more than 5,000 citizens have been illegally joined the Semilla movement, through the falsification of documents. Likewise, at least 12 deceased people would have been members of said political party.”
Irma Palencia, president of the TSE, expressed surprise at the proceedings. “This invasion of the institution worries us, the question is what else follows,” she told Emisoras Unidas on Thursday. She made it clear that they have nothing to hide.
Officers of the Police Investigation Division and Prosecutors’ Prosecutors, who have called for the disqualification of presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed party amid complaints of wrongdoing, carry out a search at the headquarters of the City Registry of the Supreme Electoral Court in Guatemala City, 13 July 2023. (Photo: JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
In an interview on Wednesday with CNN, Arévalo said he would “in no way” obey the decision he called “spurious” and “illegal.”
Arévalo categorically denied the FECI’s allegations and assured that the Seed Movement “never” paid for the signatures.
