International Legal Organizations Call for Justice After Paraguayan Prosecutor Gunned Down

Worldwide lawful organizations have strongly condemned the murder of a major prosecutor from Paraguay and urged authorities in South The united states to deliver people accountable for his execution to justice.

Marcelo Pecci was on his honeymoon at a beachfront vacation resort in Colombia last month when two men pulled up on a jet ski and shot him a few situations, in the face and in the again. The few experienced just announced by means of social media that they have been expecting a little one.

A enormous transnational investigation is underway involving the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Interpol—as nicely as authorities in Paraguay and Colombia.

“The New York Town Bar Affiliation joins Paraguay and Colombia in grieving Pecci’s violent and premature loss of life at the fingers of assassins for no obvious rationale other than that he excelled at his task,” the Bar stated in a assertion. “And the Bar urges governments in all places to redouble their dedication to the security and stability of their prosecutors, to honor the memory of Pecci and his lifetime of community provider.”

Pecci was a extremely regarded prosecutor in Paraguay and further than. He specialized in scenarios involving arranged crime, drug trafficking, funds laundering and terrorist financing.

In light-weight of the murder, the Intercontinental Affiliation of Prosecutors has also referred to as on states around the globe to evaluate the protections in location and to take into account strengthening all those steps to guarantee prosecutors’ basic safety.

“The murder of Mr. Pecci, once again, spots a aim on the protection of prosecutors and their families,” the Intercontinental Affiliation of Prosecutors mentioned in a assertion.

“If prosecutors are to effectively discharge their mandate by upholding the rule of legislation, bringing criminals to justice, and contributing to communities that are safe and sound, they have to on their own be adequately guarded at all occasions,” the association extra.

Paraguay is a notorious crossroads for multinational prison teams concerned in the drug trade, human trafficking, dollars laundering and arms smuggling.

As a landlocked place that sits among drug consumer and producer areas, Paraguay draws in transnational legal businesses wishing to carry out smuggling operations into the region and to cross it on their way to other nations and continents.

Most recently, Pecci was at the centre of an ongoing procedure against a huge drug-smuggling and money-laundering community that moves cocaine from Bolivia and Colombia via Paraguay and on to European ports.

Acknowledged as “A Ultranza Py,” the procedure has led to dozens of arrests and has implicated politicians, army staff and business elites, highlighting the powerful links among structured criminal offense and some of the greatest names in Paraguay.

In addition, Pecci seized luxury autos, airplanes, yachts, cattle, actual estate and other belongings. Drug traffickers have lost additional than $100 million due to his dogged pursuit, authorities say.

Pecci was also responsible for the 2020 prosecution of worldwide soccer icon Ronaldinho, who was billed with entering Paraguay on a phony passport, and for significant-profile conditions involving the violent Brazilian jail gang Primeiro Comando da Money (Initial Money Command), as properly as Lebanese terrorist team Hezbollah.

Legislation enforcement officials are dealing with the assassination as a experienced “hit,” a murder-for-seek the services of directly tied to Pecci’s do the job as a prosecutor in Paraguay.

Belinda Bobadilla, vice president of the Paraguay Community Prosecutors Affiliation explained by using Twitter that the “cowardly” attack towards Pecci was one particular of a series of assaults versus establishments in Latin America.

“This response occurs across Latin The usa when prosecutors examine or make accusations from legal businesses or men and women with political or economic importance,” Bobadilla wrote in a Twitter post on Might 10.

Specified the higher-profile mother nature of his get the job done, Pecci was one particular of the most intensely guarded people today in Paraguay. But he experienced remaining his security crew behind when he went to getaway in Colombia.