Legal case against former dictator "rewound"

(Vatican Radio) The legal procedure against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, has been plunged into chaos, after Guatemala's Constitutional Court overturned the verdict and ruled the trial has to be re-activated, due to a lack of legal counsel for the ex-General at one point.

Indigenous groups, human rights organizations and former opponents – to name but a few – thought justice had been served, when a trial ended with the conviction of former General and Dictator Efrain Rios Montt for grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity. From May 10th, when the conviction and sentence were announced, eighty six year old Rios Montt, started serving an 80 year sentence.

But now the Constitutional Court has ruled 3-2, that the trial has to rewind back to April 19th. The day before that, his defence lawyer walked out claiming bias by the Judges, and a court appointed lawyer was put in place, who Rios Montt promptly rejected. His original and chosen lawyer was again excluded, after challenging the Judges for refusing to consider his legal representations.

This latest law hiccoup does very little credit to Guatemala's fledgling justice system, which if nothing else should have seen procedural inevitability staring it in the face.

Although legal experts argue that the case is not lost, but must be reheard in part, it does tend to seriously undermine many Guatemalans confidence in their courts' competence or even basic common sense.

Listen to James Blears’ report: