"ARCAH HRDs receive notification of definitive dismissal of lawsuit against them", 20 April 2022

After more than four months, the Criminal Court of Francisco Morazán notified the decision of the Court of Appeals that ordered the definitive dismissal of the case against seven environmental defenders from the Alternative for Community and Environmental Claim of Honduras, ARCAH, in a trial brought against them by the poultry company El Cortijo and the Public Prosecutor's Office, for the crime of forced displacement, as the court found no grounds for criminalisation.

The defenders who were violently detained by the police on 29 March 2021, when they were peacefully protesting in front of the chicken company, are Christopher Castillo, Jeffry Suazo, Michael Aguilar, Víctor Hernández, Patricia Godoy, María Valladares and Fernando Hernández....

The resolution was notified to the aforementioned defendants four months later by the court that issued an indictment without grounds...

The Court [of Appeal] stated in its ruling that, after analysing the evidence presented by the parties and the court's decision, "the objective and subjective elements of forced displacement are not met and therefore the accused have not committed this crime, and therefore the indictment is revoked and a definitive dismissal is issued"....

This is an unofficial BHRRC's translation from Spanish.