Guatemala City (CNN) -- The courtroom erupted in cheers after former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was found guilty of genocide in May 2013 for allegedly allowing massacres of more than 1,700 indigenous Ixil Mayans in the early 1980s.
Hundreds dressed in traditional ethnic "hupils," crossed their arms over their chests in a sign of gratitude to the tribunal for being the first in the world to try a head of state for genocide in his own country's judicial system.
But the verdict would only stick for 10 days.
Guatemala's Constitutional Court annulled the conviction and ordered a retrial in 2015, a move critics considered politically motivated.
As the one-year anniversary of the Rios Montt trial nears, many -- including U.S. officials -- are sounding the alarm over recent judicial moves they say threaten the country's weak justice system