Former Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo is claiming his status as a former national leader gives him immunity from a lawsuit filed in Connecticut over the 1997 killings of 45 people in a Mexican village, The Associated Press reports.
Zedillo’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Hartford. A copy of the motion was obtained by The AP.
Zedillo also denied the allegations that he bears responsibility for the massacre by paramilitary groups in Acteal, in the southern state of Chiapas, and that he tried to cover up the killings.
Ten unnamed plaintiffs sued Zedillo in September accusing him of crimes against humanity. They are seeking millions of dollars in damages.
Zedillo was president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000. He is now a Yale University professor.
