[News] Guatemalan court finds former dictator Rios Montt guilty of genocide

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Guatemalan court finds former dictator Rios Montt guilty of genocide

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/us-guatemala-riosmontt-idUSBRE9490V420130510

By Mike McDonald

GUATEMALA CITY | Fri May 10, 2013 7:18pm EDT

(Reuters) - A Guatemalan court on Friday found former dictator Efrain 
Rios Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 
bloodiest phase of the country's 36-year civil war.

He was sentenced to 50 years in prison on the genocide charge and 30 
years for crimes against humanity. It was the first time a former head 
of state had been found guilty of genocide in his or her own country.

Rios Montt, 86, took power after a coup in 1982, and is accused of 
implementing a scorched-earth policy in which troops massacred thousands 
of indigenous villagers. He entered the court on Friday to boos and 
cries of "Justicia!" or justice.

Prosecutors say Rios Montt turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape, 
torture and arson to try to rid Guatemala of leftist rebels during his 
1982-1983 rule, the most violent period of a 1960-1996 civil war in 
which as many as 250,000 people died.

He was tried over the killings of at least 1,771 members of the Maya 
Ixil indigenous group, just a fraction of the number who died during his 
rule. He denies the allegations.

"(Rios Montt) had full knowledge of everything that was happening and 
did not stop it," Judge Yasmin Barrios, who presided over the trial, 
told a packed courtroom where Mayan women wearing colorful traditional 
head-dresses and headphones have closely followed proceedings.

The decision came just weeks after the trial was hanging in the balance 
when a dispute broke out between judges over who should hear the case.

(Editing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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