No genocide trial for former Mexican president

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- A federal court ruled Thursday that former President Luis Echeverria does not have to face genocide charges for his alleged involvement in a 1968 student massacre, Echeverria's lawyer said.

Former Mexican President Luis Echeverria, in a 2002 photo, will not face genocide charges, his lawyer says.

Federal officials seeking to prosecute Echeverria have 10 days to appeal the ruling, attorney Juan Velazquez told The Associated Press.

Velazquez said court officials informed Echeverria of the ruling at his Mexico City home, where the 84-year-old former president has been under house arrest since November.

Velazquez said the court determined his client had "no responsibility" in the massacre.

Echeverria was Mexico's interior secretary on October 2, 1968, when soldiers opened fire on the student demonstration in Mexico City's Tlatelolco Plaza just before the capital hosted the Olympics. Official reports said 25 people were killed, but human rights activists say as many as 350 may have died.

Echeverria has consistently denied any responsibility for the deaths. His lawyers said there was no proof that he orchestrated the massacre and insisted the protesters were killed in the crossfire from "sharpshooters and authorities."

In November 2006, a court ordered Echeverria's house arrest after rejecting the defense's argument that the statute of limitations for the case had expired.

In December, the court ruled there was probable cause to believe Echeverria was directly linked to the deaths of student protesters during the 1968 pro-democracy demonstration. Echeverria appealed and the court ruled in his favor, Velazquez said.

This is the second time that Echeverria, who was president from 1970 to 1976, appears to have escaped genocide charges.

Prosecutors have had little success in their attempts to try Echeverria or other top former officials for killings and disappearances under a government campaign against leftists in the 1960s and 70s known as the "dirty war."

In July 2005, a judge exonerated Echeverria on genocide charges stemming from a separate student massacre in Mexico City in 1971. In that case, the judge ruled that Echeverria may have been responsible for homicide, but could not be tried because the statute of limitations for that crime expired in 1985.

Echeverria is the only former Mexican president to face criminal charges. He suffered from a stroke in February 2006 and has been struggling with health problems ever since.

CNN Source

[Chicano666]

Same old ending, money allows you to get away with Almost anything.