Guatemala City - Four suspects, three of them linked to the Guatemala military, were convicted of murder yesterday in the 1998 killing of prominent human rights advocate Bishop Juan Gerardi.
A three-judge tribunal found retired Col Byron Lima Estrada, his son, Capt Byron Lima Oliva, and former presidential bodyguard Jose Obdulio Villanueva guilty of murder and sentenced them each to 30 years in prison.
Catholic priest Mario Orantes was sentenced to 20 years as an accessory to the murder while housemaid Margarita Lopez was acquitted.
Bishop Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in his Guatemala City residence shortly after releasing a report blaming the military for most of the 200,000 deaths during the country's 36-year civil war.