MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALIST IS FOUND GUILTY

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 28 -- In closing a case that has led to outrage
among environmental groups around the world, a district judge in the
state of Guerrero found Rudolfo Montiel Flores guilty today of drugs
and weapons crimes and sentenced him to nearly seven years in prison.

Environmental groups consider Mr. Montiel, 44, a political prisoner,
saying his only crime was to organize protests against loggers who
were cutting forests around his village north of Acapulco.

Last year, gunmen killed several members of rural ecological group led
by Mr. Montiel. In May 1999, Mr. Montiel said that he was detained and
tortured by soldiers who forced him to sign statements that confessed
to marijuana cultivation and possession of illegal arms.

This summer, the Mexican National Human Rights Commission said that
his rights had been violated, that evidence against him had been planted.

Mr. Montiel, a poor indigenous farmer, was arrested and convicted with
a friend, Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, who was sentenced today to 10 years
in prison.

Lawyers for the men pledged to appeal the sentences and to help
organize protests to reignite interest in the case.

Leaders of Amnesty International in Mexico City said they would urge
President-elect Vicente Fox Quesada to dismiss the sentences against
the two men after he takes office in December.