No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArchiveFormer Guatemalan dictator’s trial set for Aug. 14

Former Guatemalan dictator’s trial set for Aug. 14

GUATEMALA CITY – Former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Rios Montt will face charges of genocide against indigenous people in a trial set to begin on Aug. 14, officials said.

“The First Court has set the first hearing for Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 8:30 am,” said Carlos Castillo, a spokesman for the Supreme Court when asked about the trial, the first against a former Guatemalan president. He warned, however, that a delay may occur “if an appeal is filed before that date.”

Defense attorneys for the elderly former dictator said they have prepared appeals that they will file before the opening of the trial, arguing that “the former president never knew about the massacres committed by the army.”

Rios Montt, 86, goes on trial along with retired Gen. José Rodríguez, a military leader during his regime and allegedly one of those responsible for the so-called “scorched earth policy” against indigenous Guatemalans, who the military accused of collaborating with the guerrillas.

In a landmark ruling, Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez decided last week to prosecute the former dictator and Rodriguez for the killing of 1,771 Ixil Mayan people committed in the province of Quiché (in the north), during the 1982-1983 regime, the bloodiest period of the 36-year Guatemalan civil war.

Gálvez set the trial date after a hearing last week at which the parties presented evidence, and after appointing a jury.

Guatemala experienced a tragic civil war between 1960 and 1996 that resulted in some 200,000 dead or missing, according to a United Nations report.

Trending Now

Starbucks Expands in Guanacaste with New Store Opening in Tamarindo

Starbucks continues to strengthen its presence in Costa Rica with the opening of its second store in the province of Guanacaste, specifically in Tamarindo....

Costa Rica Court Sanctions Road Official Over Delayed Wildlife Crossings

Costa Rica’s wildlife faces perils, as authorities have continously failed to build wildlife crossings. Nonetheless, the Constitutional Court has taken a firm stance in...

Costa Rican Lottery Official Investigated in Money Laundering Case

Another money laundering case has shaken Costa Rica. Following a series of raids that dismantled a laundering network operating through legal and illegal lottery...

El Salvador at Center of Controversial U.S.-Venezuela Detainee Exchange

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele received the 10 Americans exchanged on Friday between Washington and Caracas for 252 Venezuelans who had spent four months in...

Keylor Navas Joins Pumas After Controversial Exit from Newell’s

Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas is officially the newest player for Pumas UNAM, but his move from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys has been anything...

Chiquita Executives Convicted in Colombia for Financing Death Squads

Colombian justice on Wednesday sentenced seven former executives of the multinational banana company Chiquita Brands to more than 11 years in prison and a...
Avatar
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica