A court in Guatemala has begun a pre-trial hearing into a genocide case against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, in potentially the first trial for genocide of the country’s indigenous tribes.
The 86-year-old former general who ruled from 1982-83, stands accused of overseeing hundreds of killings of Mayan indigenous tribes whom he claimed were linked to leftist rebels.
He was accompanied by generals Jose Rodriguez and Hector Lopez, who also stand accused. Rios Montt’s lawyers argue that he is protected by an amnesty law.
A UN-backed Historical Clarification Commission found the Guatemalan government guilty of genocide committed against indigenous tribes.
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