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Guatemala Arrests Supreme Court Judge in Corruption Probe


Supreme Court Justice Blanca Stalling is escorted by police agents to a courtroom, in Guatemala City, Feb. 8, 2017.
Supreme Court Justice Blanca Stalling is escorted by police agents to a courtroom, in Guatemala City, Feb. 8, 2017.

A Guatemalan Supreme Court judge was arrested on Wednesday accused of influence trafficking, prosecutors said, in the latest anti-corruption drive in the Central American country.

Blanca Stalling was walking in the capital, Guatemala City, when she was arrested while wearing a red wig and sunglasses, according to Julia Barrera, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office. The arrest came hours after authorities raided her home.

Congress withdrew Stalling's immunity a week ago after she was accused by a lower-ranking judge of attempting to pressure him to give her son favorable treatment in a fraud case.

Stalling told reporters she was innocent when she entered the courts after being detained.

In 2015, Guatemala's then President Otto Perez was jailed after corruption investigators, with the help of United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, accused him of receiving millions of dollars in bribes for public contracts during his administration.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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