GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The latest on the resignation of Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina (all times local):
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9:45 a.m.
Guatemalan Attorney General Thelma Aldana says she’ll ask a court to jail President Otto Perez Molina during a probe of alleged illicit association, fraud and receiving bribe money.
Perez Molina resigned at midnight, though he technically remains president until Congress meets to accept it. The Congress plans to meet later in the day.
He’s appearing in court and maintains his innocence. A probe of corruption earlier led to the resignation and jailing of his vice president.
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9:00 a.m.
Perez Molina has entered the courthouse where he is to appear before the judge who issued the detention order that prompted him to resign.
Earlier in the day, he gave an interview to a local radio station, saying that he doesn’t “trust Guatemalan justice” and criticizing the nation’s prosecutors and the United Nations commission that have mounted a huge investigation in the fiscal fraud case he was implicated in.
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8:25 a.m.
The detention order against Molina Perez and his subsequent resignation are being welcomed by rights advocates and other Guatemalans.
Jorge de Leon, Guatemala’s human rights prosecutor, says the order to detain the president “strengthens the rule of law.”
“No one in the country is above the law,” he said Thursday morning. “Now the people will be vigilant. Abuses or a lack of transparency will not be permitted under future leaders. All eyes will be on them.”
Jorge Briz, president of Guatemala’s business chamber, says that Guatemala “has sent a message to the world” that “the law is working.”
Gabriel Wer, who heads the movement that organized the protests against Molina Perez, says that the rallies were “a fundamental ingredient in all that is happening.”
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7:20 a.m.
Guatemalan Judge Miguel Angel Galvez says the court will be waiting to hear Perez Molina’s defense when he appears in court Thursday morning.
The judge’s detention order prompted the president to step aside.
Defense attorney Cesar Calderon says Perez Molina is expected in court Thursday morning.
About 50 journalists are outside the courthouse, awaiting the former president’s arrival. Security is tight, with dozens of police and members of the presidential guard blocking entrances to the building.
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6:40 a.m.
Otto Perez Molina says through his attorney that he will appear before a judge on Thursday to face the corruption charges against him following his resignation as president of Guatemala.
Perez Molina submitted his resignation at midnight Wednesday local time after a judge issued an order to detain him in a customs fraud case that earlier led to the resignation of his vice president.
The resignation must be approved by the congress, which was to consider the matter on Thursday morning.
Perez Molina was already under order not to leave the country, and on Tuesday the congress lifted his immunity from prosecution.
