Lawmakers strip Aleman of immunity

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) --Police placed former President Arnoldo Aleman under
house arrest at his home in the Nicaraguan capital after lawmakers voted to strip him of
his immunity from corruption charges.

Authorities were to escort Aleman to court Friday to hear a judge read charges
that he stole nearly $100 million in public funds during his presidency, which
ended in January.

The legislature stripped Aleman of his immunity in a 47-45 vote on Thursday,
and police confined him to his house hours later.

Nine members of Aleman's ruling Constitutionalist Liberal Party supported the
motion, which marked the first time any president had been stripped of his
immunity.

The rest of the lawmakers in Aleman's party -- including the former president
himself -- voted against the measure.

President Enrique Bolanos served as Aleman's vice president but took office
pledging to clean up the country's corrupt government, a campaign that put him
at direct odds with his predecessor.

In a national television address late Thursday night, Bolanos said he hoped
Aleman "received a fair and open trial."

Prosecutors: Aleman stole state funds

Federal prosecutors allege the former president diverted state funds to
Panamanian bank accounts controlled by his family and then funneled the
money to Constitutionalist Liberal candidates.

Aleman became a lawmaker upon leaving office, and Thursday's vote did not
remove him from the legislature.

As the last lawmaker to speak before the vote, a visibly shaken Aleman called
the accusations against him "a political witch hunt" and used a slide projector to
address prosecutors' charges one by one.

Bolanos said removing Aleman's immunity would "behead the clans of
corruption and intimidation once and for all."

Aleman's supporters in the legislature had blocked previous bills to strip the
ex-president of his immunity, even though polls show that Nicaraguans
overwhelmingly support putting Aleman on trial and the U.S. government has
supported Bolanos' corruption fight.

Rene Herrera, head of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, said Thursday that
Bolanos was out to destroy his country's political system and warned that the
vote would "make it impossible to govern Nicaragua."

Protests fail to materialize

Police officers gathered outside the legislature and at points throughout central
Managua, bracing for demonstrations Aleman supporters said would flood the
streets of Nicaragua's capital in response to the vote. Those demonstrations
never came.

Aleman's daughter and two key aides to the former president also have been
implicated in the case, but still enjoy immunity as sitting lawmakers. Legislators
haven't drafted resolutions to remove their immunity.

In September, a judge ordered Aleman's sister and three other relatives of the
ex-president arrested on charges they helped illegally embezzle state funds. It
was the first time arrest warrants had been issued for relatives of any
Nicaraguan president.

Aleman has also been accused of misspending $1.3 million in public funds that
were destined for a state-controlled television station. He has denied any
wrongdoing in that case.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.