MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) - Guatemala’s former military leader Efrain Rios Montt, 86, has been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity by a court in the country, media reported.
The tribunal of three judges sentenced Rios Montt to 80 years in prison, the BBC reported.
The man was convicted of ordering the killings of over 1,700 people of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his time in office in 1982-1983.
Those who survived described terrible abuses committed by the armed forces against people suspected of providing assistance to left-wing rebels.
Up to 200,000 people were killed in the Guatemalan Civil War in 1960-1996.
The judge said that as de facto president Rios Montt knew what was happening, but did nothing to prevent it.
The retired general had denied the charges and is expected to appeal the court's ruling on the grounds of his age.
Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, Rios Montt's former chief of military intelligence, who was on trial with him, was acquitted.
