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On the morning of March 22, the accused military officials refused to leave their cells, claiming their lives were in danger. Lima Oliva was dragged into court shouting about communist conspiracies. After Lima Estrada was finally escorted into the courtroom, he claimed to be ill and fainted. A physician who examined him said he was only nervous. The judges ordered that the trial begin again the next day.

Testimony during the first week of the trial focused on the crime scene and traces of the bishop's blood inside the residence.

Juan Gerardi's successor as head of the human rights office took the stand on March 30. Bishop Mario Rios Montt, brother of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, told the court that the murder was "delicately prepared, technically executed, and had consequences that were well thought out beforehand."

Bishop Rios suggested that those accused of the crime were not those who ordered the killing. "Yet the game of chess teaches us that in order to save the king, it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice the pawns," he told the court.

Prompting shock in the courtroom, Rios added that after the murder he had been offered a "deal" by the brother of then President Alvaro Arzu. Rios said that Jose Antonio Arzu had told him that if the church signed a statement absolving the military from responsibility for Bishop Gerardi's killing, the government would not prosecute Father Orantes for any involvement in the case. Bishop Rios said he had rejected the deal.

Orantes maintains that he does not know who killed Bishop Gerardi. "I am an innocent person accused of something I didn't do," he said.

Yet many observers are hoping that when called to testify before the court, Father Orantes will reveal more than he has until now.

"I hope that when he finally gives his declaration he will say all that he can," said Alvaro Ramazzini, Catholic Bishop of San Marcos. "Until now, there has been no judicial obligation under which he could be punished for not telling the truth, so he's had the right to withhold whatever he wanted."

When the defendants in the case get a chance to present their version of events, the officers' attorneys are expected to claim that the crime was committed by members of the Valle de Sol criminal gang, linked to drug trafficking, kidnapping, and the theft of ancient church artifacts.

Lima Oliva said that he and the other officers were scapegoats. "They look for military culprits as a way to maintain the funding of the church's human rights office," he said. "Along with other non-governmental organizations, rather than trying to project a dignified image of our country in the world, they want to denigrate it."

The trial, which is being held in a large auditorium of the Guatemalan Supreme Court, is expected to last at least two months.

Copyright © 2001 ENI.

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45