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Lawyer for former Guatemala dictator gunned down

Thursday, 04 June 2015 9:23 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 04 June 2015 9:23 AM ]

This photo shows the scene where Guatemalan lawyer Francisco Palomo was shot dead in Guatemala City, June 3, 2015. (© AFP)

A Guatemalan lawyer who was under the spotlight for representing former dictator General Efrain Rios Montt has been shot dead in the capital.

Francisco Palomo died after he was shot 12 times in the chest and face by two assailants on a motorbike while he was driving by a residential area in Guatemala City on Wednesday.

Police have not yet made any comments on the motive behind the deadly incident.

For a period, Palomo served as a judge on the country’s Constitutional Court. However, the 63-year-old was better known as a longtime friend and family consultant of Guatemala’s former dictator.

Palomo defended Rios Montt, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the death of over 1,700 indigenous Guatemalans while he was at the helm in 1982-1983.

The US-backed military strongman is accused of condoning the use of torture, rape and arson by his forces against the leftist rebels of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).

Former Guatemalan dictator General Jose Efrain Rios Montt arrives on a stretcher at a courthouse in Guatemala City, January 5, 2015. (© AFP)

The ex-dictator was not prosecuted for decades because he was a congressman until 2012 and was thus protected by a law that grants immunity to the country’s public figures.

However, in 2012, Rios Montt left Congress at the age of 86, and was ordered by the judiciary to stand trial right away.

In 2013, the court sentenced Rios Montt to 80 years in jail for his crimes. However, the verdict was soon overturned and a new trial was ordered. The retrial had been scheduled for January 2015 but was later postponed.

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