A genocide conviction against former Guatemalan military leader Efrain Rios Montt has been overturned by the country’s highest court.
The 86-year-old was found guilty earlier this month of overseeing the killings of at least 1,771 members of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his rule in the early 1980s. He was given an 80 year jail sentence.
Now the Constitutional Court has ordered that proceedings go back to where they stood in mid April, when a dispute broke out over who should hear the case. It is unclear when the trial might restart.
Montt’s conviction had been hailed as a landmark for justice in the Central American nation.
More about: Guatemala
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