Guatemalan judge releases Gerardi murder suspect

A judge in Guatemala has released an army officer accused of involvement in the murder of a prominent Roman Catholic bishop and human rights campaigner two years ago.

The judge dismissed charges against the former presidential bodyguard, Obdulio Villanueva, after his lawyers said he had been in prison for another murder of a man accused of attempting to assassinate the then president, Alvaro Arzu, at the time of the killing.

Mr Villanueva was one of three army officers arrested in January in connection with the murder of bishop Juan Gerardi, who was battered to death after releasing a report accusing the military of atrocities during the thirty-six year civil war. The bishop's cook and a priest who worked as his assistant are also under arrest on charges of involvement in his murder.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service