Nicaragua puts former president in the dock

The former Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Aleman was taken before magistrates yesterday to be formally charged with money laundering and theft of state funds.

He is accused of laundering $97m (£64m) through banks in Panama, and on Monday he will be charged with stealing a further $51m.

Mr Aleman was put under house arrest on Thursday a few hours after fellow members of the national assembly voted to strip him of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

With a narrow majority of supporters he had blocked several previous attempts to clear the way for prosecution.

President Enrique Bolanos, Mr Aleman's vice-president and successor, said the struggle to bring him to justice had been long, painful and damaging to the credibility and governance of the country.

Mr Bolanos began a war on corruption as he took over the presidency in January, and despite strong support for the policy his repeated failure to bring Mr Aleman to trial drove his popularity rating down by 20 points, according to a recent opinion poll.

A fortnight ago the US revoked Mr Aleman's visa and froze his US bank accounts.

Yesterday's vote was passed with the support of the former president Daniel Ortega and other Sandinista deputies.