A Guatemalan court has convicted six people in connection with the deaths of 41 girls at a state-funded youth shelter in 2017.
On Tuesday, Judge Ingrid Cifuentes gave the former officials, who had all pleaded not guilty, sentences of between six and 25 years for charges ranging from abuse of authority to manslaughter.
Two of the people convicted were ex-police officers, while the other four were ex-child protection officials.
Prosecutors had sought sentences of up to 131 years for some of those on trial.
The judge said she did not have the jurisdiction to make a ruling against a seventh defendant, who used to be the children’s prosecutor at the attorney general’s office.
As well as handing down the prison terms, Cifuentes also ordered an investigation into former President Jimmy Morales, who was Guatemala’s leader at the time of the blaze.
Emily del Cid Linares, 25, a survivor of the fire who suffered burns, said she was satisfied with the verdict.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted from me,” she said. “What I most feel is that they [the victims] will be able to rest in peace. [Those responsible] are going to pay for what they did.”
The tragedy at the Virgen de la Asuncion youth shelter, which is located 22km (14 miles) east of the capital, Guatemala City, shook the country and went on to highlight the widespread abuse in the government’s shelter system.
The fire broke out on March 8, 2017, a year after the home, which housed hundreds more children than its legal capacity, was ordered to close by a court.
The blaze started in a classroom in which 56 girls had been locked after their attempt to escape the shelter the previous day. After being brought back to the site by the police, they were shut in a room with no access to a toilet.
Witnesses said that one of the girls set fire to their foam mattresses to protest against their treatment at the home, which is alleged to have included sexual abuse.
Nineteen girls died on March 8 from their injuries, with a further 22 later succumbing to their injuries. The fire also severely injured 15 others.
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