Mayas denied bus permits to travel to court

The case of the Maya Leaders Alliance and the Toledo Alcaldes Association versus the government comes up tomorrow in the Supreme Court. The hearing takes place one year after the claimants filed for an interim injunction to stop the taking over of what they term as Maya lands in Toledo. It is expected that the Supreme Court will revisit the question of indigenous rights of the Mayas to the lands which they have occupied in that district. The Maya communities had planned to attend the hearing. But a press released issued today states that their requests for bus permits to travel to the session have been denied. The Maya people views this as discrimination because people in any other part of the country wanting to travel by bus to the courthouse would not face this problem. This will not deter the Mayas, however, who will hold a news conference at eleven in the morning in the Battlefield Park following the ruling.