Guatemala convicts ex-police chief for student leader's disappearance
Guatemala convicts ex-police chief for student leader's disappearance
Source: Reuters - Fri, 20 Sep 2013 09:09 PM
By Mike McDonald
GUATEMALA CITY, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A Guatemalan court sentenced a former national police chief on Friday to 40 years in prison for orchestrating the disappearance of a student union leader in 1984 during the country's bloody civil war.
Hector Bol de la Cruz, chief of police from 1983 to 1985, was convicted in the kidnapping and disappearance of Fernando Garcia, last seen when officers detained him outside his home in the capital in 1984.
"The accused supported, authorized and committed the acts in question," Judge Yasmin Barrios told the court after a three-judge panel handed down the conviction and sentence. "Hector Bol de la Cruz had knowledge of Fernando Garcia's capture ... he was the one giving the orders."
The court also sentenced former senior police officer Jorge Gomez to 40 years for his role in the kidnapping. The court found he had ordered a patrol car with four officers to monitor the street where Garcia vanished on Feb. 18, 1984.
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