Genocide trial of former Guatemalan leader Rios Montt opens with high drama
Court rejects bid to delay Efrain Rios Montt's genocide hearing and expels defence lawyer
Former Guatemalan dictator José Efrain Rios Montt has gone on trial on genocide charges over the killing of almost 1,800 indigenous people during the dark days of his country's civil war.
The trial of the 86-year-old former strongman, who could face five decades in prison, had a raucous opening on Tuesday with the three-judge court rejecting several defence motions for a postponement, and expelling a lawyer representing Rios Montt.
Wearing a dark suit and polka dot tie, Rios Montt sat stone-faced between his two lawyers in a packed Supreme Court room. He requested a bathroom break as the court reviewed several objections lodged by his lawyers.
Some 500 people filled the courtroom, ranging from indigenous women and rights activists seeking justice to former right-wing paramilitary fighters and relatives of soldiers still loyal to Rios Montt's legacy.
The retired general, who insisted he was not aware that the army was committing massacres under his watch, is accused of ordering the execution of 1,771 members of the Ixil Maya people in the Quiche region during his 1982 to 1983 regime.