Honduras: Activists Demand the Release of Water Protectors

Honduran activists vow to continue fighting for the release of eight water protectors who have been imprisoned for over a year,  following a recent court decsion in which their freedom was denied.

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The eight environmentalists were illegally jailed while defending the Carlos Escaleras National Park and the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers as a mining project led by Honduran company Inversiones Los Pinares threatened to destroy these natural resources.

Since September 2019, Porfirio Sorto Cedillo, José Abelino Cedillo, Orbin Naún Hernández, Kelvin Alejandro Romero, Arnol Javier Aleman, Ewer Alexander Cedillo, and Daniel Márquez have remained in prison.

The Court, which is currently closed for the holidays, has continued releasing top officials accused of corruption while denying the environmentalists their right to return to their homes. The court scheduled the next hearing for January 6, 2021.

"The joy of spending Christmas with the family has been taken away from us, but we will nonetheless continue fighting. We will continue struggling for the freedom of our compañeros," Juana Zúniga, wife of one of the environmentalists said during a press conference on December 21.