Guatemala's ex-despot Rios Montt has dementia: Doctors

[Judi Lynn]

Guatemala's ex-despot Rios Montt has dementia: Doctors
By AFP 57 mins ago .

Guatemala's former dictator Efrain Rios Montt has dementia, doctors said Tuesday at a hearing to decide if he is fit to face retrial for genocide during the country's civil war.

The 89-year-old former general, who ruled the Central American country from 1982 to 1983, is accused of ordering the army to massacre more than 1,700 Ixil Maya indigenous people in northern Guatemala.

He was sentenced to 80 years in prison at an initial trial in 2013, but the Constitutional Court threw out his conviction on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial. His lawyers say he cannot face a new trial because he is no longer capable of understanding the charges against him.

After examining Rios Montt during a week of court-ordered tests at a private psychiatric facility, experts found he alternates between lucid moments and dementia, including hallucinations, said doctor Walter Rinze of the Federico Mora National Mental Health Hospital.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/guatemala-s-ex-despot-rios-montt-has-dementia-doctors/article/441435#ixzz3jCfGihrs

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Efrain Rios-Montt and supporter, Ronald Reagan.[/center]
LA forum:
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[Judi Lynn]

1. Guatemala: Court Suspends Dictator Rios Montt's Genocide Trial

Guatemala: Court Suspends Dictator Rios Montt's Genocide Trial
Published 18 August 2015 (5 hours 43 minutes ago)


​In May 2013, Rios Montt was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in the 1980s.


A Guatemalan court postponed deciding on whether former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was fit to stand trial, a few hours after his lawyers handed in a medical report claiming the former dictator suffered from dementia.

The court decision will be postponed until Aug. 25, stated Judge Maria Eugenia Castellanos. The ruling followed six-hours of testimony from four doctors who confirmed that the 89-year-old retired general suffered from dementia.

However, none of the doctors took a stance on whether Rios Montt was mentally fit to confront a new trial, as ordered by the court. The public ministry requested the appointment of a legal advocate to represent Rios Montt, while the lawsuit against his former head of intelligence services José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez will be treated separately.

In May 2013, Rios Montt was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the thousands of human rights abuses committed during his 1980s dictatorship, but the historic verdict and accompanying 80-year prison sentence were overturned just 10 days later, purportedly due to errors in the judicial process.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Guatemala-Court-Suspends-Dictator-Rios-Montts-Genocide-Trial--20150818-0041.html