Life sentence for Guatemalan police chief Sperisen [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Life sentence for Guatemalan police chief Sperisen
swissinfo.ch and agencies
June 6, 2014 - 16:33

Erwin Sperisen, the former head of Guatemala’s national police, has been found guilty by a Geneva court of involvement in the murder of six Guatemalan prisoners and killing another between 2005 and 2006.

Sperisen, who has dual Swiss-Guatemalan citizenship, was on Friday sentenced to life for his crimes. According to the judges, because of his rank, Sperisen played a decisive role in the killings. In one case, he carried out one of the executions himself.

Sperisen’s lawyers had been asking for his acquittal. The convict, who was born into a wealthy and powerful Guatemalan family, had claimed he was not guilty and that he had never ordered executions.

The Swiss court, however, found him guilty of ordering the execution of three prisoners who attempted to escape from a prison centre in November and December 2005. Sperisen allegedly asked his subordinates to make it seem as though ten detainees had clashed with police in three separate incidents before they were shot.

More:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Life_sentence_for_Guatemalan_police_chief_Sperisen.html?cid=38737288