Guatemala: "I am innocent," Ríos Montt tells court in genocide trial, breaking silence
Xeni Jardin at 1:45 pm Thu, May 9, 2013
As the trial of Guatemala's former military dictator, José Efraín Ríos Montt, and his then head of intelligence, José Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, moved toward its conclusion this afternoon in Guatemala City, an unexpected thing happened: Ríos Montt asked to speak. He has remained mostly silent since the trial began on March 19. Today, he spoke in his own defense for the first time.
"I was not a commander," Ríos Montt shouted before the court just now, arguing his innocence, "I was head of state! I never authorized any plan to exterminate the Ixiles. There is no evidence to prove otherwise."
The former general and his attorneys asked the judge for permission to speak after the "debate" portion of the trial had closed, and the proceedings moved to closing arguments. Judge Yassmin Barrios first denied the request, stating that it was out of order; the defendant was given many opportunities to speak while the debate portion was open, but chose to remain silent then. After further debate and deliberation, and a tirade of insults directed at the judge and Ministerio Publico from defense attorney Francisco Garcia Gudiel, the judges granted Ríos Montt the right to address the court.
I was in a press crush at the general's feet, and shot video of him speaking a few feet away from me, on my iPhone. I'll publish the video of his 55-minute monologue later. For now, a few screengrabs.
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More:
http://boingboing.net/2013/05/09/guatemala-i-am-innocent.html
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