Swiss prosecutor demands 14-year prison sentence for Sperisen
Erwin Sperisen, the former head of Guatemala's national civil police, argues that he is innocent and was unjustly deprived of his freedom for 11 years.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss prosecutor demands 14-year prison sentence for Sperisen
Swiss prosecutor Yves Bertossa has demanded a 14-year sentence against Erwin Sperisen, former head of the Guatemalan National Civil Police. The Swiss-Guatemalan national is charged with aiding and abetting the murder of prisoners in Guatemala.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Staatsanwalt fordert 14 Jahre Gefängnis für Sperisen
Original
Sperisen is on trial in Geneva for the fourth time. The former head of the Guatemalan National Civil Police is accused of having agreed to the execution of seven prisoners by a hit squad in 2006 as part of an operation to regain control of the Guatemalan prison in Pavon.
For Bertossa, there is no doubt that the former head of the Guatemalan police was aware of the activities of this death squad. The execution team had consisted of Erwin Sperisen’s men, he claims. They included his lieutenant and his two personal advisors, he said.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss oddities
Mennonite movement turns 500 in Zurich, where it all began
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
The Fête de l'Epouvantail (scarecrow festival) is celebrating its 30th anniversary and returns to Denens in canton Vaud for its seventh edition from July 10-20.
This content was published on
A 35-year-old man has died in a work accident at the valley station of the Heimwehfluh toboggan run in Matten near Interlaken, canton Bern.
This content was published on
The Swiss embassy in Tehran re-opened on Sunday after being closed on June 20 owing to the unstable situation in the country.
This content was published on
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and her youngest daughter Princess Ariane attended the Netherlands' women's European Championship football match against Wales in Switzerland on Saturday.
Swiss want to better protect military airfields from spying
This content was published on
Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister says he wants to better protect Swiss military airfields against espionage activities.
Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025
This content was published on
A man flew a drone around the venue on Wednesday evening during the first match of the Women's EURO 2025 in St. Gallen. The 30-year-old violated the absolute ban on flying during match days. He was reported to the police.
More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative
This content was published on
A total of 257 companies from Switzerland have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, they are committing to CO2 reduction targets that are compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Swiss accident prevention group sees federal targets at risk
This content was published on
The Swiss government's target for accident figures is at risk, reckons Mario Cavegn, member of the executive board of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.
Feminicide: Swiss justice minister calls for electronic monitoring
This content was published on
Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans has called for electronic monitoring and an ankle bracelet warning system for perpetrators of violence against women.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.