UN expert says Guatemalan prosecutor's office using criminal law to pursue opponents

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A United Nations expert warned Friday at the conclusion of her two-week visit that Guatemala’s prosecutor’s office is increasingly using criminal law against former prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, journalists and others.

Margaret Satterthwaite, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, traveled the country meeting with judges, lawyers, lawmakers and others, including Guatemala’s chief prosecutor.

“The instrumental use of criminal law by the Prosecutor General’s Office appears to amount to a systematic pattern of intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights, targeted at specific groups,” Satterthwaite wrote in her preliminary report. “This persecution appears to be intensifying, as those who have sought to end impunity and corruption, defend human rights, or speak out against abuses of power increasingly face digital harassment, threats, and criminal charges.”

The office is led by Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and other countries and accused of being an obstacle to corruption investigations.

Satterthwaite met with Porras and her staff. They told Satterthwaite that they acted within the law, denied using criminal law to pursue opponents and said they were the real victims of attacks by the executive branch and its allies, the U.N. expert said.

“Criminal charges have been directed at more than 60 justice operators and defense or human rights lawyers,” Satterthwaite said, noting that more than 50 “justice operators” have been forced into exile by the prosecutor’s office.

Porras’ office said later that it did not agree with Satterthwaite's preliminary report, because it did not reflect “the complex work that we do, nor the exhaustive information that was provided.”

“We energetically reject the idea of a ‘criminalization of sectors,'" the office said. “Our actions are based on serious, objective investigations that strictly adhere to the Guatemalan legal framework.”

President Bernardo Arévalo has tried unsuccessfully to convince Porras to step down. His office said it agreed with Satterthwaite's observations about the “criminalization” carried out by the prosecutor's office and justice system, something the president repeatedly has called attention to.

CORRECTS TIME SPENT IN COUNTRY - The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, arrives to a press conference after her two-week visit, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

CORRECTS TIME SPENT IN COUNTRY - The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, gives a press conference at the end of her two-week visit, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

CORRECTS TIME SPENT IN COUNTRY - The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, speaks during a press conference at the end of her two-week visit, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.

Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.

Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.

In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.

Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.

Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.

In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”

“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.

In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”

“A logical choice,” he added.

FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)