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The murder of the leader of the Lenca people, environmental activist and human rights defender, happened just over five years ago, on March 2, 2016.
The Honduran Sentencing Court resumed the oral and public trial of David Castillo on Tuesday; Castillo is the alleged mastermind of the murder of environmental leader Berta Cáceres, but the court did not allow any observations during the process.
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The trial against Castillo began last April 6 and resumed this Tuesday after the Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by the defense against the Sentencing Court because they disagreed with some preliminary resolutions.
On its Twitter account, the Honduran Judiciary announced that: "After the Court of Appeals declared null a motion filed by the defense of Roberto "David" Castillo, who is linked to the murder of Berta Cáceres, the Nation Sentencing Court schedules the continuation of the Oral and Public Trial from April 26 to May 7."
On April 6, Castillo's defense had asked the court to delay the trial until three challenges were resolved and the results of some forensic analyses were ready, but the court denied that request.
The murder of the leader of the Lenca people, environmental activist and human rights defender, occurred on March 2, 2016, when she was at her home in the residential El Líbano, in the municipality of La Esperanza, Intibucá.
Berta Caceres: the court has just admitted three experts proposed by the family's legal team, who will seek to demonstrate that defendant David Castillo, a businessman & ex-intelligence officer, was part of a criminal structure that planned and executed the assassination
— Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) April 27, 2021
The now-defendant was the president of the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A (DESA), executor of the Agua Zarca project, which Cáceres opposed and, according to the prosecution, was the company from where the crime of the environmentalist was ordered.
Castillo Mejía was arrested at the Ramón Villeda Morales airport when he attempted to flee the country to return to his place of residence in the United States, on March 2, 2018, precisely on the second anniversary of the murder.
According to the investigations carried out by agents assigned to the Department of Crimes Against Life of the Technical Agency of Criminal Investigation (ATIC), Castillo Mejía allegedly provided logistics and other resources to the material perpetrators. They were already convicted for this crime. Castillo's capture took place within the framework of the police operation called "Jaguar."
The Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes Against Life maintains its accusatory thesis, reinforced by an expert opinion that established the connections between Castillo Mejía and other defendants in the case via telephone calls and messages.
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