Berta Caceres’ murder: Court finds guilty building contractor | Violence News

A Honduran court has found David Castillo guilty of collaborating in the 2016 assassination of human rights activist Berta Caceres.

The head of a Honduran construction company has been found guilty of plotting to assassinate Berta Caceres environmental activists in 2016, a court ruled on Monday, in what Caceres’ aides received as “victory”.

David Castillo is the former director of Desarrollos Energeticos (DESA), which ran the Agua Zarca $ 50m power project.

Caceres, a longtime environmental worker and cultural leader, was shot dead in 2016 at his home in downtown La Esperanza after leading a protest against the project, which would have built a pool on the Gualcarque River in the ancestral lands of his people Lenca.

Lenca’s civil rights activists said the project would seriously affect their water and food supply and the builders did not consult local cultural groups.

Seven other men they have already been convicted and sentenced for their involvement in the genocide, which has condemned them worldwide and sought justice.

Castillo was charged with the first offense sir behind the killings, but was found guilty of being a accomplice in the plot on Monday. His case is being re-assigned to August 3.

Caceres has been developing the environment since the early 1990’s, starting with illegal logging, and won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts to address the dam.

Freedom fighters number Carceres endured years of intimidation and harassment by DESA since 2013.

The Expert Observation Mission, a coalition of human rights groups and law enforcement agencies that has been following the case, said the evidence showed that Castillo linked to “long-term monitoring, torture and intimidation” against Caceres.

Since the trial three months ago, thousands of helpers they have been gathering outside the court to demand that Castillo prosecute him.

On Monday, a television video showed Caceres’ audience cheering and applauding the verdict.

#Honduras This is how the accusation against businessman David Castillo Mejía, president of #VILLAGE of the assassination of Berta Cáceres. His daughter @ BerthaZuniga1 celebrates the verdict outside the Supreme Court in the National Court #Tegucigalpa #LasQueLuchan

@Alirezatalischioriginal @GildateleSUR pic.twitter.com/a5Kgk99KN9

– Ruda (@ruda_gt) July 5, 2021

The human rights group set up by Caceres, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), called the election a “victory” for the people of Honduras.

“It means that the criminal gangs did not violate justice,” COPINH said Twitter.

Amnesty International has also welcomed the wrongdoing, but said Caceres’ justice “will not be realized until all those involved in the scandal, including the perpetrators, will be prosecuted”.

“Until all those responsible are brought to justice, human rights activists in Honduras continue to lose their lives, by raising their voices and defending those who are at risk. .

Last year, 20 human rights activists were killed in Honduras, a reports The Frontline defender found it – making South America the third country to kill freedom fighters.

Fourteen land conservationists were killed in 2019, from four people last year, according to a support group. International Evidence.