A Guatemalan judge has placed former dictator Mr Efrain Rios Montt under house arrest after he was accused of manslaughter for instigating a riot last year that killed a journalist.
Mr Hector Ramirez died of a heart attack in July 2003 as he was being chased by stick-wielding rightists at a demonstration backing a presidential bid by Mr Rios Montt.
The former military strongman is also accused in other lawsuits of ordering the slaughter of tens of thousands of Maya Indians during his iron-fisted rule from 1982-83.
Judge Yolanda Perez ordered that Mr Rios Montt cannot leave his luxury home in the capital while an investigation into the reporter's death goes on.
The ex-dictator is infamous for carrying out a scorched earth policy against Indian villages in the early 1980s in a civil war against leftist guerrillas.
Mr Rios Montt lost at the first round of last year's presidential elections, eventually won by pro-business candidate Mr Oscar Berger.
The former dictator denies stirring up the fatal riot, during which supporters angry at a court challenge to his presidential bid took over Guatemala City's financial district.
Rightists, many wearing ski masks and wielding clubs, smashed shop windows and held office workers hostage in a rampage that lasted all afternoon.
Mr Berger, who took office in January, has launched an anti-corruption drive against former officials loyal to Mr Rios Montt and has begun a campaign of military staff cuts.