Cusanero was a “military commissioner,” a position occupied by civilians who were allowed to carry arms and have communication channels with top military officials in order to give them information on supposed guerrilla collaborators during the 1960-1996 civil war.

The trial originally began in 2003, when family members of the victims reported Cusanero to the Attorney General’s Office. However, the defense managed to prolong the trial until the constitutional court gave the green light for the lawsuit last June.

Prosecutor Albert Clinton announced that he demanded between 25 and 40 years of prison for Cusanero for the deaths of Lorenzo Villa, Alejo Culajay, Filomena López Chajcha¬quin, Encarnación López, Santiago Sutuj and Mariano Augusto Tay Cajtí.

Cusanero’s defense lawyer, Mario Smith, said at the hearing that the trial must be declared void since forced disappearance only became a crime in 1996. However, the National Reconciliation Act — approved in the Peace Accords of 1996 that put an end to the civil war — established that statute of limitations is not applied in cases of genocide, torture and forced disappearance.

http://www.latinamericapress.org/article.asp?lanCode=1&artCode=5551