Guatemalan Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual denounces political persecution
Channel: Peoples Dispatch
Date: 14/01/2020

On January 14,  the legal process against Guatemalan Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual is set to begin. Pascual is accused of defamation, slander and injury by the son of a high-ranking military official and interior minister during the dictatorship of Ríos Montt. According to Pascual's organization the Committee for Peasant Unity -CUC- the charges are unfounded and in violation of the Constitution as well as several international conventions that Guatemala has ratified. 
Due to his visible role in the defense of human rights and vulnerable communities in Guatemala, Pascual has long been subjected to a systematic campaign of attacks, threats, and intimidation by the Guatemalan right-wing and government entities, this baseless accusation is part of that.
Pascual and CUC call on organizations and individuals to stand in solidarity to denounce this clear case of criminalization.