Honduras: Prosecution to Present Evidence in Caceres Murder

Guatemala's Public Prosecutor held Friday the first hearing for the attribution of charges against four suspects in the murder of Berta Caceres, the environmental activist and human rights defender who was assassinated in her home in March.

The four men were arrested Monday and have been identified as Sergio Rodriguez Orellana, Douglas Geovanny Bustillo, Mariano Diaz Chavez and Edilson Atilio Duarte. The first three are considered the masterminds behind the killing, while Duarte is believed to have been the shooter. All four are expected to be ordered to be held in pre-trial detention.

The alleged masterminds have links to the armed forces of Honduras and the DESA hydro-electric company, which Caceres and her organization, known as COPINH, campaigned against.

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The four men are also accused of the attempted murder of Mexican activist Gustavo Castro, who was also at Caceres' home on the night of the homicide, and who was left for dead with gunshot wounds.

COPINH said Tuesday in a statement that it did not trust the state's investigation and there are likely more people involved in the planning and execution of Caceres' assassination. COPINH also took issue with the fact that they have been excluded from assisting in the investigation, and claimed they have been deliberately left in the dark.

“That is why, now more than ever, the government must meet the demand of COPINH and Berta's family for the creation of a commission of experts for this type of crime, led by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,” read the statement.

Local media reported that three people, including a sitting lawmaker, a vice-mayor, and a businessman, are also being considered potential suspects.

COPINH added that the links between the suspects and the DESA hydro-electric company should lead the investigation to ascertain if there are links between the company and the assassinations of other environmental activists who opposed DESA's dam project.

The DESA project is rapidly losing support. A German company announced Friday they would cease supplying goods the project due to the alleged links between DESA and the killings of COPINH activists.

COPINH has called for the dam project to be canceled definitely.