Guatemala’s President will be investigated in a corruption probe and could be stripped of immunity that protects him from prosecution.
The Central American nation’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that President Otto Perez Molina should be investigated and asked the country’s lawmakers to lift the President’s immunity.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes more than a month after Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti stepped down amid a customs corruption scandal.
The Guatemalan Congress will name a commission that will conduct the investigation into Perez Molina, which was requested by an opposition party.
A spokesman for Perez Molina said the President would respect the law as the investigation moves forward, the state-run AGN news agency reported.
Perez Molina, a retired military general who campaigned on promises to use an “iron fist” to fight crime, won the presidential election in 2011.
In recent months, he’s faced mounting criticism at home as his Cabinet faces a slew of corruption scandals.