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Guatemala President Perez Molina barred from travelling | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A judge has barred Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina from leaving the country. | |
The travel ban was imposed just hours after congress voted to remove his immunity from prosecution. | |
Prosecutors accuse the president of masterminding a scheme to defraud the customs service of millions of dollars, which he denies. | |
The president, whose term runs out in January, could now be summoned to appear before a court. | |
A spokesman for Mr Perez Molina said the president would be "very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law". | |
Unprecedented move | |
On Tuesday, all members of congress present at the vote endorsed a move to strip the president of his immunity. | |
They included members of the president's own party. | |
A previous vote to remove his immunity failed last month. | |
But since then, more details of the corruption scandal have emerged and calls for the president to resign have increased. | |
Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News, Guatemala City | Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News, Guatemala City |
A vote in favour was expected but it did not stop the nerves - would enough politicians turn up and would members of the president's party vote against him? | |
When the results came in, there was lots of clapping and cheering. Guatemalans couldn't be happier. The demonstration outside the congress building turned into a party, with people chanting: "Yes we could!" | |
For the past four months, Guatemalans have been going out on the streets to protest over government corruption and calling for the president to resign. | |
This paves the way for the country's leader to be tried like any ordinary citizen and there is a sense of relief that, finally, politicians are not above the law. | |
Investigators allege that government officials received a cut from bribes paid by businesses seeking to evade import duties. | |
Vice-President Roxana Baldetti and a string of top officials have been forced to resign over the scandal. | |
Ms Baldetti is in jail awaiting trial on charges of taking millions of dollars in bribes. | |
The president was stripped of his immunity just days before presidential elections on Sunday. | |
Some protesters have demanded that the polls be postponed, but officials argue that it would be against the law. | |
Mr Otto Perez Molina is barred by the constitution from standing again. |