Honduran hydroelectric executive jailed for environmentalist murder

A senior executive of a hydroelectric dam in Honduras was handed a prison sentence of more than 22 years on Monday for his role in the 2016 murder of renowned environmentalist Berta Caceres.

A judge last July had ruled that Roberto David Castillo, a former member of the armed forces who graduated from the West Point military academy in New York, was the "co-perpetrator of the crime of murder."

The victim, Berta Caceres, was a fervent opponent of Desarrollos Energeticos S.A. (DESA), which had developed a project in Indigenous territories in Honduras.

Castillo was the executive president of DESA, and evidence presented against him -- including phone recordings -- showed that he "participated directly" in the crime, according to a statement from the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) announcing his sentence of 22 years and 6 months in prison.

Castillo's defense has 20 days to appeal the ruling.

During the trial, the court heard that Caceres was killed due to her opposition to DESA's building of a hydroelectric plant on the Gualcarque river.

She was the coordinator of the COPINH group of Indigenous organizations and in 2015 won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

Less than a year later, on March 2, 2016, she was shot and killed by men who entered her home in the western village of La Esperanza.

In 2018, two DESA officials and a former military officer were sentenced to 30 years in prison as "co-perpetrators" to Caceres's murder.

The four hitmen each received 50 years.

Caceres's family and the COPINH leadership want more people punished, though, including the partners in DESA, made up of influential banking families.

"This is not easy but we are continuing the fight, collecting evidence to be able to bring them to trial because they are already people of economic and political power," Roberto Caceres, the brother of the murdered environmentalist, told AFP.

Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

In southern Ukraine, Russian forces guard strategic dam
Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine (AFP) May 23, 2022
Armed Russian soldiers patrol the Kakhovka hydroelectric station in southern Ukraine, a strategic target captured in the first hours of Moscow's military operation, restoring a crucial water supply to annexed Crimea. Three months after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine, the turbines at the power plant in the Russia-controlled Kherson region are still in full motion as the waters of the mighty Dnipro river rush through. But more importantly for Moscow, its troops now control the ... read more