PBI-Guatemala accompanies members of the CCDA at hearing in Cobán

On May 6, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“Yesterday, PBI accompanied José Gualna Ché, member of the CCDA of the Verapaces, to the hearing of the first statement in the Tower of Courts of Cobán.

Accused by the MP [Public Ministry] and the Dieseldorff Grimler family, he is charged with aggravated usurpation charges for forming part of the Cristalino River community, a community they claim is within their private property.

While the facts are being investigated, the lawyer requested that he could be released from prison, but was denied alternative measures and is currently in the Coban Preventive Detention Center.

With this case, now 7 CCDA members jailed, shows an alarming climate of criminalisation on the rise.”

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project began accompanying the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) – The Verapaces in July 2018.