Court to review measures against three Q’eqchi’ defenders seeking the return of their land from an army base, July 12

Udefegua photo: The first statement hearing on June 18 in which three defenders were sent to pretrial detention after having already spent nine days in prison after a protest on June 9.

Caso Creompaz has noted that there will be a hearing on Monday July 12 at 8 am (10 am in Ottawa) at the Criminal Court in Cobán, Guatemala.

Caso Creompaz explains: “This hearing will review coercion measures against three Chicoyogüito community members arrested when they started a peaceful demonstration on June 9 in Cobán, demanding the return of their territory from which they were stripped 53 years ago by the Guatemalan Army.”

You can follow the hearing on Twitter and Facebook.

La Hora reports: “On June 18, the first statement hearing was held, where [21 community members] were linked to trial for the crimes of aggravated usurpation and three for attack. 18 of them were granted coercive measures, including financial security of 5,000 Quetzal [about CAD$800], while three were sent to pretrial detention.”

And Prensa Comunitaria reports: “The protesters said they did not intend to carry out an invasion, but to demand the return of their lands, dispossessed by the army in 1968, to build Military Zone 21, which was a center for illegal detention, torture and extrajudicial executions [and is now the Creompaz base].”

That article also notes: “Outside the courthouse, dozens of residents of the community expressed their solidarity with the detainees, calling for their release. ‘We are not invaders’ and ‘Political Prisoners’ can be read on the placards they carried.”

Webinar on Thursday July 15

On July 15, PBI-Canada will be hosting a webinar with a Chicoyogüito community member, human rights lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila who represents the families displaced by the military base, and World Beyond War Canada organizer Rachel Small.

It will provide the latest updates on what happened in court on July 12 and plans for July 28, the anniversary of the dispossession of the community by the army base.

To register for that Zoom webinar – which will have simultaneous translation in English and Spanish – please click here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Chicoyogüito Neighborhood Association of Alta Verapaz (AVECHAV) which is made up of 250 families displaced by the army base.

#JusticiaParaChicoyogüito