SAN SALVADOR, March 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — El Salvador’s Congress voted to temporarily remove a Supreme Court judge from his post pending a trial, after he was accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl.
Lawmakers also voted to strip Judge Eduardo Jaime Escalante Diaz, 51, of his immunity against prosecution in a nearly unanimous vote of the 84-member Congress.
“An important precedent is being set to prevent this type of event from repeating, especially with regard to officials with such a high position,” said Patricia Valdivieso, a lawmaker with the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).
Escalante Diaz, who has served for more than two decades on the 14-member court, is accused of fondling the girl on Feb 18, and then fleeing after he was surprised by neighbours and the girl’s mother.
If convicted Escalante Diaz faces a potential prison sentence of between eight to 12 years. — NNN-AGENCIES
