Guatemala ex-police official convicted in 1980 embassy siege
Guatemala ex-police official convicted in 1980 embassy siege
Jan 20, 12:35 AM EST
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) -- A Guatemalan court has sentenced a former police official to 90 years in prison for the killings of 37 people more than three decades ago when the Spanish Embassy burned down during this Central American nation's bloody civil conflict.
The court on Monday found Pedro Garcia Arredondo, a former special investigations chief for the Sixth Commando of the National Police, guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for ordering officers to keep anyone from leaving the diplomatic mission as it burned.
Among those killed in the blaze was Vicente Menchu, father of 1992 Nobel peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu.
Menchu applauded the ruling. "We need to create hope and justice, even if just a drop of it, and this is an example that shows we can go to the justice system and work with it," she said.
Protesters from Indian, student, peasant, labor and other groups had taken over the embassy to call attention to massacres during the 1960-96 civil war. Police surrounded and sealed the facility.
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Guatemala court jails former police chief over embassy attack
Pedro Garcia Arredondo found guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for assault on Spanish embassy that killed 37
Agencies in Guatemala City
Tuesday 20 January 2015 05.41 EST
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Former police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo escorted out of court after he was sentenced over the 1980 Spanish embassy
attack. Photograph: Moises Castillo/AP
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A court in Guatemala has sentenced a former police chief to 90 years for an assault on the Spanish embassy in 1980 during a protest by indigenous people, peasants and university students that left 37 people dead. The attack came during the Guatemalan civil war between the government and leftist rebels and their supporters.
At least 245,000 people died or disappeared in the war, which lasted from 1960 until 1996, according to a 1999 UN-sponsored report.
The court on Monday found Pedro Garcia Arredondo, a former special investigations chief for the national police, guilty of homicide and crimes against humanity for ordering officers to keep anyone from leaving the diplomatic mission as it burned.
Among those killed in the blaze was Vicente Menchu, father of 1992 Nobel peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu. Menchu applauded the ruling. “We need to create hope and justice, even if just a drop of it, and this is an example that shows we can go to the justice system and work with it,” she said.
The convicted police chief will only have to serve 30 years, however, because that was the maximum possible sentence at the time of the attack.
Protesters outside the court yelled “murderer, murderer”.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/20/guatemala-jails-police-chief-embassy-attack-pedro-garcia-arredondo
