CONVICTIONS IN RIVERA CASE

Guatemala, May 9, 2011. The First High-Risk Trial Court issued sentences of between 5 and 46 years in prison. Two accused individuals were acquitted. Ten individuals had been charged with the murder of the former advisor to the Ministry of the Interior, Víctor Rivera. The facts took place on April 7, 2008 on Bulevar Vista Hermosa, Zone 15 of Guatemala City.

SENTENCES:

Aurelio Ruiz
34 YEARS IN PRISON (30 for murder and 4 for egregious injuries).

César Augusto Paiz Córdova
34 YEARS IN PRISON (30 for murder and 4 for egregious injuries).

Juan Antonio Vásquez
40 YEARS IN PRISON (30 for murder, 4 for egregious injuries and 6 for obstruction of justice).

Israel Bethancourt Vela
46 YEARS IN PRISON (30 for murder, 4 for egregious injuries, 6 for illegal modification of weapons and 6 for obstruction of justice).

Nelson Oswaldo Milián Girón
40 YEARS IN PRISON (30 for murder, 4 for egregious injuries, 6 for illegal possession of firearms).

Santiago Enrique Sis García - ACQUITTED

Marleny Judith Sosa y Sosa
6 YEARS IN PRISON (obstruction of justice).

Walter Ivanovich Monroy Cruz
5 YEARS IN PRISON (falsification of documents).

Cruz Magdaleno Reyes García
6 YEARS IN PRISON (obstruction of justice).

Rubén Estuardo Rosales Sánchez - ACQUITTED

According to the judges, the investigations conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) established who made up this criminal structure that, under the command of Jorge Mario Paredes Córdova (alias "el gordo Paredes"), murdered Rivera.

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) participated in the process as a technical consultant, pursuant to an agreement signed between the Government of Guatemala and the UN, which stipulates that CICIG must support the MP in criminal prosecutions. CICIG may comply with this stipulation as a technical consultant or as a complementary prosecutor, as set forth in Article 3, Point 1 of Subparagraph c of the Agreement.