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Ex-President jailed

ASUNCION (Paraguay): The former President, Luis Gonzalez Macchi, was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for concealing a Swiss bank account dating to his time in office that prosecutors said contained more than $1 million, a tribunal announced. Gonzalez Macchi, who served from March 1999 until August 2003, was taken into custody but vowed to appeal Monday's ruling, saying he felt ``defrauded'' by the justice system. ``I wasn't expecting this,'' he said. ``I believe I am a victim of politics at this moment in Paraguay.'' The three-judge tribunal announced in a televised ruling that it had convicted Gonzalez Macchi of illegal enrichment and providing false testimony about the Swiss account. He also was ordered to pay $500,000 in fines. — AP

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