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Friend of attorney slain in Guatemala feels threatened, seeks protection
Guatemala City, May 23, 2009 (EFE via COMTEX) --
Luis Mendizabal, a former military
adviser and friend of a slain Guatemalan attorney who in a
posthumously released video accused President Alvaro Colom of
plotting to kill him, has asked authorities for protection, saying
that his life is also in danger.
Mendizabal was the one who distributed the video left recorded by
prominent attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg, who was killed on May 10 in an
upscale sector on the south side of the Guatemalan capital while
riding his bike.
In the video made three days before his death, Rosenberg
implicated in his possible murder the president, first lady Sandra
Torres, presidential aide Gustavo Alejos, businessman Gregorio
Valdez, and top executives of the public-private Banco de Desarrollo
Agricola, the country's second largest.
Rosenberg said on the video that his life was at risk because he
had evidence of the involvement of the president and his associates
in the April 14 slayings of businessman Khalil Musa and his
daughter, Marjorie.
Musa, recently appointed by Colom to the board of the Banrural
development bank, was killed for refusing to cover up "illegal,
multi-million-dollar transactions being carried out day after day"
at the financial institution, Rosenberg said.
In a statement published Saturday in the local press, human
rights ombudsman Sergio Morales said that Mendizabal has asked him
for protection because he fears for his life.
Morales said that he met Friday with Mendizabal, a former
military and presidential aide, who brought him "his version of the
facts surrounding the death of Mr. Rosenberg," but gave no precise
information on who killed the attorney, he said.
The ombudsman said that during their meeting Mendizabal asked him
for protection because he fears an attempt will be made on his life.
According to Morales, Mendizabal also made a statement to the
International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which is
headed by Spaniard Carlos Castresana and is investigating
Rosenberg's slaying with assistance from the FBI.
Mendizabal, the ombudsman said, feels threatened, but mentioned
no specific threat.
Castresana on Friday requested "seriousness and discretion" of
all "sources and institutions" wishing to help with the
investigation into the attorney's murder.
"We ask them to be serious, to be responsible, and to be
discreet," Castresana told reporters.
On Wednesday Morales told the press that an attorney sent a
document to his office informing him about the existence of a
witness to the crime who identified by name three of the six people
who carried out the murder.
The suspected gunmen identified in the document were the brothers
Carlos and Gerson Nimatuj together with Julio Galicia, all three
having a long criminal record.
The Rosenberg crime has sparked one of the worst political and
governmental crises in Guatemala's recent history.
President Colom has rejected on several occasions all accusations
against him and maintains that he is not a murderer.
Nonetheless, the president's statements have not been sufficient
to still the outcries and demonstrations by the slain attorney's
friends and relatives, who demand justice.
They have been joined by opposition political parties and
powerful corporations that demand an end to the violence and even
the temporary resignation of the president while investigations into
the case are in progress.
Meanwhile Colom's constituency of the poor and underprivileged
continues to support the president. EFE
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