Guatemala judge threatened after decision on civil war crime

By SONIA PÉREZ D.
Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemala judge who last week ordered nine former police and military officers to stand trial for alleged crimes during that country’s civil war, says that death threats against him had increased since announcing his decision. Magistrate Miguel Ángel Gálvez said Wednesday he had received threatening calls, messages and been followed by strangers’ vehicles. Last week’s case stemmed from a document from Guatemala’s civil war recovered in 1999 known as the “Military Diary.” Inside, military officials logged forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the torture of 183 people. The accused were high-ranking military and police officers arrested last year and implicated in the cases described in the document.