Soldiers Face New Charges in Deaths of Jesuit Priests
A judge formally charged a Salvadoran colonel and eight other Salvadoran soldiers Tuesday with committing acts of terrorism in connection with last year’s slaying of six Jesuit priests, a court spokesman said.
“The judge has added new charges in addition to murder,” Supreme Court spokesman Mario Gonzalez said. “The judge decreed the soldiers’ detention in the Jesuit case on charges of acts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.”
Col. Guillermo Benavides and seven others have been in jail since January on provisional murder charges. The ninth soldier is a fugitive. Gonzalez said the new charges will “make it easier to establish the responsibility of all those involved” in the killings, which also included the housekeeper and her daughter.
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