He was captured by Interpol in El Salvador in 2019, but the Supreme Court rejected Guatemala’s extradition request.
In the second half of 2019, Juan Carlos Bidegaín Hananía, the newly appointed interior minister, was captured in El Salvador and placed under the order of a justice of the peace in San Salvador in response to a red broadcast or a warrant. arrest warrant issued by the International Police (Interpol), according to documents of the Salvadoran court.
An act of the Supreme Court of Justice of 24 October 2019 states that (after being captured by Interpol in El Salvador) the second justice of the peace in San Salvador decided to send him to pre-trial detention “on the basis of a Red Interpol broadcast issued for allegedly committing a crime in Guatemala ”.
Yesterday, El Diario de Hoy tried to contact Bidegaín Hananía to answer questions about his appointment and his legal situation in Guatemala, but no answer was obtained.
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Also in 2019, the Guatemalan authorities began proceedings before the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador for the extradition of Bidegaín Hananía.
This was rejected by the Salvadoran judiciary. ‘There is a presentation of the events chronologically documented in the petition (extradition request) which states that the events began in the city and later in Guatemala City, together with other items reported by the applicant. After analyzing the legal framework and the principle of territoriality of the criminal law, it is proved the provenance of the facts that are being investigated in our country and for this purpose the General Prosecutor’s Office will be willing to certify … ”.
Of the 15 magistrates who were present at the full hearing of the Court, the document of 28 May 2020 states that three magistrates did not vote in the declaration of inadmissibility of the extradition request.
The magistrates who did not vote were Aldo Cáder, Carlos Sánchez and Sandra Luz Chicas, according to the minutes.
I couldn’t get out of El Salvador
According to lawyers consulted on the international arrest warrant, but who asked not to be identified, the fact that the Supreme Court of El Salvador declared the extradition request inadmissible does not imply that the official cannot be captured if he leaves El Salvador.
Diario de Hoy investigated whether the red broadcast against Bidegaín Hananía is still in force on the Interpol website, but could not be verified.
According to sources who claimed to be aware of the case, the crime for which the Guatemalan authorities demand Bidegaín Hananía was committed against minors while he was living in Guatemala.
Bidegaín Hananía married a person from Guatemala, from whom she separated after fleeing to El Salvador.
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In mid-2020, after the Supreme Court rejected the extradition request, the Salvadoran official went to a family court to divorce his wife, because he had been separated for more than a year.
Bidegaín Hananía’s wife was summoned by edicts published in national newspapers. Informers told El Diario de Hoy that the events attributed to the current interior minister were so serious that the victims even decided to leave Guatemala.
Son of the Minister of Education
Bidegaín Hananía is the son of the Minister of Education, Carla Evelyn Hananía de VarelA.
Despite the fact that at the beginning of his term, President Nayib Bukele attacked FMLN party employees and government officials, emphasizing the practices of nepotism, which he himself allowed in his government. For example, Bidegaín Hananía held important positions. He was an adviser to the office of the Deputy Minister of Transport with a salary of $ 3,621.