A Guatemalan appeals court has suspended the trial date for retired Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, a former dictator accused of genocide.

Court officials said Saturday that the temporary injunction delays the proceedings scheduled to begin March 19. It would be the first genocide case against a former head of state in Latin America.

The injunction was requested by military lawyers challenging Judge Miguel Angel Galvez's decision to exclude expert witnesses in Rios Montt's defense.

Rios Montt is accused of overseeing the slaughter of at least 1,771 indigenous people between March 23, 1982, and Aug. 8, 1983, while serving as de facto president during the country's civil war.

Defense attorney Moses Galindo calls the judge's ruling a "gross violation of constitutional rights."