FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2015 file photo, opposition Congressman Mario Taracena, center, talks with another lawmaker prior to a session to decide on whether to remove Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina's immunity from prosecution, in Guatemala City. One year later, Guatemalan prosecutors are asking the country’s courts to withdraw Taracena's immunity for possible criminal violence related to the forcible removal of a woman from a public office. Prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barreda confirmed the request Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Luis Soto, File)
Republished October 18, 2016 - 11:59 AM
Original Publication Date October 18, 2016 - 10:50 AM
GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan prosecutors are asking the country's courts to withdraw the congressional president's immunity of office so he can be investigated for possible violence, spokeswoman Julia Barreda confirmed Tuesday.
The complaint was filed recently by the secretary of a congressional workers' union that is in a dispute with Mario Taracena, who fired a number of employees. Barreda said a woman whom she declined to identify alleges she was forcibly removed from a public office.
Taracena called the complaint "absurd" and said it was undermining a law punishing violence against women that was used to seek the court hearing. He also said it was a political manoeuvr against him, with lawmakers to consider Tuesday whether he or two other candidates will lead Congress next year.
He has accused several current and former legislators of maintaining "phantom jobs" at Congress for employees who never showed up and made more money than lawmakers.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016