Easter Island judge says no to trespassing charges

[Judi Lynn]

Easter Island judge says no to trespassing charges
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 8, 2011; 3:18 PM

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- A lawyer for a family of Easter Islanders says a Chilean judge has rejected prosecution requests to charge 17 people with trespassing for their six-month takeover of a luxury hotel.

Mata Atan tells the Associated Press that a judge on Tuesday decided that civil courts must first determine who the proper owners are.

The $50 million Hanga Roa hotel should be a major tourist magnet on the Pacific Island also known as Rapa Nui, where mysterious statues of giant heads dominate the landscape. But the Hito family says the land was swindled from their illiterate grandmother and then passed illegally into private hands during Chile's dictatorship. Police forcibly ended the takeover on Sunday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/08/AR2011020803954.html