A Guatemalan sentencing court on Wednesday acquitted Colonel Juan Chiroy Sal of the execution of six peasants during a demonstration in the west of the country on October 4, 2012, and convicted seven other soldiers of various crimes.
“He never fired his rifle,” argued Judge Eugenia Castellanos, of the High Risk Court “B”, together with auxiliary judges Marling González and Elia Perdomo to justify the acquittal of Colonel Chiroy for the crime of extrajudicial executions.
According to the court, the Prosecutor’s Office failed to adjudicate the crimes against the accused and also acquitted Sergeant Manuel Lima Vásquez.
In addition, the court convicted Abraham Gua Cojoc for firing his firearm against the civilian population and the soldiers Edin Vásquez, Ana Cervantes, Dimas García, Marcos Chun, Felipe Chub and Abner Cruz for the crime of injury in a fight.
The Alaska Summit Massacre
The so-called ‘Alaska Summit Massacre’, identified in reference to the name of the stretch of road where the murder of the protesters occurred, is considered the first massacre committed by the Guatemalan Army since the signing of the peace agreements in 1996. ., which ended an internal armed conflict of more than three decades (1960-1996).
The confrontation that led to the murders occurred during a demonstration by indigenous communities that opposed the increase in the cost of electricity, and soldiers led by Colonel Chiroy were in charge of clearing the road where the events occurred.
Lawyer Lucía Xiloj and the survivors of the massacre rejected Chiroy’s acquittal and assured that they will seek to appeal the court’s decision.
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