Murder acquittal in Guatemala may have consequences

In a decision that could have far-reaching implications in Canadian courts, a Guatemalan judge acquitted a former security guard employed by a subsidiary of a Canadian mining company of murder on Thursday.

Mynor Padilla, 53, had been charged in the shooting death of Adolfo Ich, a Mayan Q’eqchi’, at a 2009 protest on contested land at Fenix nickel mine in El Estor, eastern Guatemala. At the time, Padilla was employed by a Guatemalan subsidiary of HudBay Minerals, based in Toronto.

Source: Toronto Star