Former Mexican president claims immunity in 1997 massacre

Former Mexican president claims immunity in 1997 massacre

2012-01-08 04:06:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

CONNECTICUT (BNO NEWS) -- Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo has claimed that his status as the country's former leader gives him immunity from being prosecuted for a 1997 massacre that left dozens of people dead in the southwestern state of Chiapas.

Zedillo, who was Mexico's leader between 1994 and 2000, denied allegations that his office was in some way responsible for the killings of 45 people by paramilitary groups in the town of Acteal. Ten anonymous plaintiffs sued Zedillo in September and are seeking about $50 million in damages.

Zedillo, who is now employed at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said in a court filing that he had "inherited the conflict in Chiapas from the prior administration," CNN reported. He delivered the filing to a U.S. district court in Hartford.

"These anonymous accusations that President Zedillo was somehow complicit in the events in Acteal are baseless and outrageous," a statement said, as quoted by the news network. "The December 1997 attack in Acteal was an appalling tragedy. But that tragedy was not the result of an elaborate conspiracy by the Mexican federal government, masterminded by President Zedillo."

The massacre in Acteal on December 22, 1997, is considered among the more brutal incidents during an armed conflict that began in early 1994 when the Zapatista Army of National Liberation demanded more rights for indigenous people.

In 1999, the United Nations Commission on Human Reports found that the killings "occurred against a background of long-standing disputes, often over land ownership, which have for decades divided the local indigenous communities." The report added that clashes between government supporters and those backing Zapatista rebels "claimed a large number of victims" in the region over a five-year span during the 1990s.

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