2 sentenced in ’97 Chiapas massacre
A judge has sentenced two brothers to 26 years in prison for their participation in the 1997 massacre of 45 men, women and children in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas.
Antonio and Mariano Pucuj were also ordered to pay more than $70,000 in compensation to the victims’ families, the human rights group Fray Bartolome de las Casas said.
Pro-government villagers armed with guns and machetes killed the 45 Tzotzil Indians on Dec. 22, 1997, in an incident known as the Acteal massacre.
At the time, Chiapas was deeply divided between supporters of the Zapatista rebels and backers of the government.
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