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Bishop
Gerardi Assassins Convictions Upheld
Guatemala's Supreme Court rules out new trials
for suspects in bishop's slaying, upholds convictions
Wed Feb 12,10:03 PM ET
By SERGIO DE LEON, Associated Press Writer
GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala's Supreme Court upheld on Wednesday the convictions
of four men in the 1998 killing of a Roman Catholic bishop, and overturned an
October lower court ruling that had granted them new trials.
The ruling caps a four-year attempt to bring the killers of human rights
crusader Bishop Juan Gerardi to justice, amid threats against judges and
prosecutors in the case. However, the ruling can still be appealed to the
nation's highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court.
"This demonstrates that our appeal to the court was valid, and the appeals
court committed an error by reviewing evidence rather than procedural
points," said Nery Rodenas, spokesmen for the human rights office of
Guatemala's Catholic Archdiocese.
The Supreme Court's Wednesday ruling upheld the June 2001 conviction by a
three-judge panel of retired Col. Byron Lima Estrada; his son, Capt. Byron Lima
Oliva, and Sgt. Obdulio Villanueva in Gerardi's bludgeoning death. The court
also upheld 30-year prison sentences for each.
One of the three, Obdulio Villanueva, was reported killed
Wednesday in fighting between inmates during a riot at a prison outside
Guatemala City, in which five other prisoners were also killed.
The Rev. Mario Orantes, Gerardi's assistant, was sentenced to 20 years in prison
as an accomplice; his conviction was also upheld in Wednesday's ruling.
Orantes' lawyer, Jose Toledo, told local media he planned to appeal the ruling.
In October, an appeals tribunal overturned the June 2001 conviction, saying that
court had issued its verdict without considering possible contradictions in the
testimony of Ruben Chanax, a homeless man who testified he had been paid by the
Limas and Villanueva to spy on Gerardi.
Chanax said the men told him beforehand that someone would die the night of
Gerardi's killing.
Gerardi was killed with a concrete block in the garage of his Guatemala City
seminary in April 1998, days after presenting a lengthy report blaming the
military for 80 percent of the deaths during the country's 1960-1996 civil war.
Activists had considered the 2001 convictions a human rights victory for a
country that was plagued by thousands of atrocities.
Following the convictions, the chief prosecutor and one of the judges that
presided over the case left the country, saying they feared for their
safety.
During the long probe into Gerardi's death, several prosecutors, witnesses and
investigating magistrates quit the case or left Guatemala citing death
threats.
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