Guatemala ex-police jailed over gay couple's killings

A Guatemalan court has sentenced seven former police officers to prison terms of up to 60 years over the killings of Eldin Choc and Milton Santamaria, a gay couple whose deaths human rights groups denounced as a hate crime.

Choc, 28, and Santamaria, 45, were beaten, tortured and killed in April 2024 by officers who made homophobic remarks during the incident at a police station in San Andres Itzapa, prosecutor Marco Escobar told AFP.

Judge Maria Castellanos called the case “despicable” during the sentencing hearing. Edy Vasquez, the police chief at the time, was sentenced Wednesday to 60 years in prison. Another former officer also received 60 years, while a third was sentenced to 30 years for extrajudicial execution.

Two female former police officers were sentenced to 11 years for dereliction of duty and discrimination for directing homophobic remarks at the couple, according to the ruling. Two other defendants received sentences of eight and 10 years for charges including unlawful detention, abuse of authority, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty.

Choc was Guatemalan and Santamaria was Salvadoran-Canadian. They had reportedly been arrested over an altercation in a shop. Police reported the couple as having died in a traffic accident. Santamaria’s body was taken to a hospital, while Choc’s remains were found days later in a ravine with one hand mutilated.

Two firefighters had previously been sentenced to one and three years in prison after confessing that, under police pressure, they helped cover up that Santamaria was already dead when he was taken to hospital.

Amnesty International and other rights groups said in a joint statement that the case added to many other hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ people in Guatemala. Henry Choc, Eldin Choc’s brother, told reporters he was satisfied with the outcome and said justice had been served.

Abraham Abrego, legal director of Cristosal and a plaintiff in the case, said it was important that the killings did not go unpunished. He called the case “clearly a crime motivated by prejudice.”

The Lambda Association, a Guatemalan human rights group, said there were around 30 violent deaths of LGBTQ people in Guatemala last year. Hate crime is not defined under Guatemalan law.