Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina (2nd L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama (3rd L) speaks. Perez Molina has been called by protesters in Guatemala to resign for months. In this photo taken in the Cabinet Room of the White house, President Juan Orlando Hernandez (R) of Honduras and President Salvador Sanchez Ceren (L) of El Salvador were also in attendance. File Photo by UPI/Alex Wong/Pool | License Photo

GUATEMALA CITY, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- President of Guatemala Otto Perez Molina has been stripped of immunity from prosecution in an unanimous vote by Congress after months of protests by citizens.

Guatemala's Congress voted 132-0 to remove Perez Molina's immunity on Tuesday. He is prohibited from leaving the country and an arrest warrant could be issued for his arrest, according to The New York Times.


"Justice can reach anybody" who breaks the law, Guatemala's Attorney General Thelma Aldana, said after the vote, adding that it is "very painful, very worrying that a president in office should be submitted to a criminal trial."

In late August, as evidence began pointing toward Perez Molina in a bribery and corruption scandal, he rejected calls for his resignation.

"I will not resign, and I will fully face and submit to the procedures that correspond to the law," Perez Molina said in a televised address on Aug. 23. "I categorically reject any link."

More than 30 people have been arrested as part of the scandal, including former Vice President Roxana Baldetti, who was arrested Aug. 21 on corruption charges three months after being forced out of office.

Those linked to the scandal are accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen who were attempting to avoid more expensive tariffs.

The scandal caused fierce, daily protests in Guatemala. Multiple government ministers and allies to the president, who are not connected to the scandal, resigned in attempts to distance themselves from a government that has lost credibility.

Guatemala is set for presidential elections beginning Sep. 6 with a second round expected later in October. Due to electoral laws, Perez Molina is prohibited from seeking another term. His current term ends Jan. 14.