“Berta Caceres murder: Court finds construction executive guilty”, 05 July 2021

...A Honduran construction firm executive has been found guilty of being a collaborator in the 2016 killing of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres, a court ruled on Monday, in what Caceres’ supporters welcomed as a “victory”. David Castillo is the former head of Desarrollos Energeticos (DESA), which ran the $50m Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project. Caceres, a longtime environmental activist and Indigenous leader, was fatally shot in 2016 in her home in the town of La Esperanza after leading opposition to the project, which would have built a dam on the Gualcarque River on the ancestral lands of her Lenca people. Lenca activists had said the project would cause major disruptions to their water and food supply and that the builders did not consult the area’s Indigenous groups...Castillo was originally charged with being the mastermind behind the murder, but was found guilty of being a co-conspirator on Monday. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 3...The Expert Observation Mission, a coalition of international human rights and legal organisations that has been following the trial, said the evidence presented showed that Castillo had coordinated “a long campaign of surveillance, harassment and threats” against Caceres...The Indigenous rights group founded by Caceres, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), called the decision a “victory” for the people of Honduras... Amnesty International also welcomed the guilty verdict, but said justice for Caceres “will never be truly complete until everyone who took part in the crime, including those who planned it, is brought to justice”. “Until all those responsible are held accountable, other human rights defenders in Honduras will continue to lose their lives, for raising their voices and defending the most vulnerable. The Honduran authorities must put an end to impunity,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, the group’s Americas director, said in a statement...