Source: edicion.247prensadigital@gmail.com

Since the Magnitsky Human Rights Prize was established,  only two Guatemalans  have received this distinction: lawyers Rolando Alvarado and Victoria Sandoval, the only ones in Latin America to have brought a legal case before the Senate of the United States of America.  This case is that of the Bitkov family , inscribed in the history of judicial infamies and which, when it seemed to be resolved by a ruling of the constitutional court, returns with an absurd ruling by the Court of Appeals that confirmed the conviction against Igor Bitkov.

Roxana Orantes Cordova

Rolando Alvarado is a young and affable lawyer who, despite his internationally notable career, tells his story with simplicity. By chance, he came across a huge machine oiled by those who assassinated the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who gave his name to the human rights prize and the law.

According to Rolando, he met Irina Bitkov in 2013, as a lawyer for the protection of copyright on a book about Anastasia Reality, who produced it “to have a job here in Guatemala.”

At the time, he had no idea that he would become the international protagonist of a case that contributed to the United States cutting funding to the now defunct CICIG, which ended up withdrawing from Guatemala without having achieved a single one of its initial objectives.

However, in 2015, the Russian state banks VTB and Gazprombank, through their leaders Henry Comte and Alfonso Carrillo, colluded with the CICIG-FECI to persecute the migrant family, despite the fact that they were protected by the Palermo Convention and the documents they carried were issued by the Guatemalan state.

Alvarado recalls that he was called during the night by the Bitkovs, since “he was the only person linked to the legal matter with whom they had a relationship.” Around a hundred people participated in the raid against the family and the arrests were made around one in the morning.

“A PGN car took the three-year-old boy, and I followed him because I didn’t know what could happen. Thank God, the judge on duty saw that I was with the nanny, she saw that there was an emotional bond between her and Vladimir, I took responsibility for any expenses and I made the commitment to take the nanny to live at my house, so that the child would not be institutionalized.”

From then on, the family’s story became a seemingly never-ending nightmare, and Sandoval-Alvarado provided constant legal support and company. Both appeared before the Helsinki Commission in April 2018, where they denounced each of the CICIG’s abuses against the Bitkov family.

Colombian Iván Velásquez and his allies avoided attending the hearing, where the incredible mistreatment and illegalities to which the Bitkov family was subjected were revealed, an action that said a lot about their way of acting.

How do you come into contact with Bill Browder?

Irina, Anastasia and Igor had been ordered to be in prison. For health reasons, the two of them went to a hospital and Igor to Mariscal Zavala, where he spent three and a half years. The women were ordered to be in prison for a year. Later, Judge Gálvez gave them an alternative measure, in the form of financial bail.

While they were under arrest warrant, Bill Browder’s fight to protect Russian businessmen became known internationally, because he was familiar with the concept of corporate trespassing, which is well known in that field.

Browder and his team specialize in defending human rights. Remember that he is considered the architect of the Magnitsky law, since Sergei Magnitsky was his lawyer and died as a result of a tax investigation into the fraud of more than two hundred million in taxes by Russian officials.

At the time, he was promoting his book and the case was brought to his attention via email. He did some preliminary research, sent people to the Bitkov family factories and confirmed the truth of the claims. After that, he hired a lawyer from London and they confirmed the situation.

Bill Browder felt very strongly about the cause of this family and was the one who opened the door for us to the Senate in Washington, where he is recognized for his integrity. For this reason, senators and high-level officials pay a lot of attention to him.

On September 11, the Constitutional Court (CC) granted definitive protection to Irina and Anastasia, because they have the status of migrants.

Paradoxically, the Criminal Court contradicts the CC with its latest ruling. What do you think about this?

On October 9, we were notified of the ruling dated July 9, 2024, issued by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, which confirms the ruling dated January 8, 2020, issued by the Second Chamber of the Court of Appeals for High-Risk Proceedings and in which the conviction against Igor Bitkov was confirmed for the documents issued by the State of Guatemala.

The ruling of the Criminal Court is dated before the final Amparo ruling issued by the Constitutional Court, dated September 11 of this year. The ruling issued by the Constitutional Court declares that, in the case of Irina Bitkova and Anastasia Bitkova, because they are migrants, the exemptions from criminal liability regulated by the Migration Law and the Palermo Convention must be applied.

Due to the above, the Constitutional Court, chaired by Néster Vásquez, will have to hear the case of Igor Bitkov, which contains the same legal situation that it already heard in relation to Irina Bitkova and Anastasia Bitkova, and where it granted the corresponding constitutional protection by considering them migrants and exempt from criminal liability.

Source: https://247prensadigital.com/24-7/la-cc-tiene-que-conocer-el-caso-de-igor-rolando-alvarad-