LAS director Jo-Marie Burt was in Guatemala city last week to monitor and report on the proceedings of the Ríos Montt trial on behalf of the Open Society Institute Justice Initiative.
Ríos Montt and his former chief of military intelligence, Jose Mauricio Rodríguez Sanchez, were charged with overseeing the murder of 1,771 Maya Ixils from Quiché department during the 17 months of Ríos Montt’s de facto government between March 1982 and August 1983. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence each of the defendants to 75 years in prison.
On the afternoon of Friday, May 10, 2013, a Guatemalan trial court (High Impact Court “A”) found the General guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 80 years of prison. Co-defendant Rodríguez Sanchez was acquitted of both charges.
You can read Dr. Burt's posts on the trial proceedings on the OSJI's blog. In addition, Dr. Burt was interviewed by Al Jazeera English following the trial and program assistant Casey Cagley published a summary of the final week of the trial in the Tico Times, a Costa Rican newspaper.
May 14, 2013