NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - Guatemalan officials said on Wednesday that an unidentified body discovered last month may be that of another suspect in the death of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera in April.

      Bishop Gerardi was murdered just two days after releasing a report blaming the army for the majority of the murders during the country's 36-year civil war. Prosecutors said they think the mutilated body found May 30 is linked to the bishop's case because of the way in which the unidentified man was killed, the newspaper Prensa Libre reported. Prosecutors did not elaborate on how the man died.

      One suspect in the murder is already in custody. Carlos Enrique Vielman, 24, was arrested in April but has not been formally charged.

      This came a day after a suspect in the murder of a Guatemalan bishop was cleared of involvement by prosecutors on Tuesday, but another suspect remained in custody.

      Attorney General Otto Ardon Medina said there was no evidence indicating Ivan Alexander Hernandez was involved in the April 26 killing of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera. The bishop was murdered in his home two days after releasing a report criticizing both sides in the country's 36-year civil war for numerous human rights atrocities.

      Hernandez, 25, was arrested June 5 during an alleged drug deal and was still being held Tuesday on possible drug possession charges. He had been linked to the 1994 killing of Father Belga Alfonso Stessel, but was never charged. A first suspect, Carlos Enrique Vielman, 24, was arrested in April in connection with the bishop's death but still has not been formally charged. Human rights groups say the arrests are an attempt to shield the real murderers who are either government soldiers or former rebels.