A Guatemalan constitutional court refused a Spanish judge’s request to extradite a former dictator and seven others. Efrain Rios Montt was accused of “crimes against humanity” during his 1982-1983 regime by a Spanish magistrate in June 2006. Yet the Guatemalan court decided that Spain did not have the jurisdiction to try Montt and his cohorts.
1992 Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu- who filed charges against Montt in 1999- blasted the court’s decision:
"This only confirms the reason why I did not trust the Guatemalan justice system and filed the complaint in Spain in 1999," Menchu said of the ruling, which was handed down last week but not announced until Monday.
Benito Morales, Menchu's lawyer, said he would ask the court to reconsider the ruling.
Menchu said the former officials "can no longer leave the country because international arrest warrants are still active elsewhere."
Despite being accused of some of Guatemala’s worst atrocities, Rios Montt ran unsuccessfully for president in 2003.
Sources- Voice of America, Reuters, Associated Press, Wikipedia, BBC News
Image- BBC News
1 comment:
Why they wouldn't extradite this guy? he is a monster!
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