7 Convicted for murder of Honduran environmentalist Berta Caceres

A Honduran court on Thursday found guilty seven of the eight defendants accused in the murder of environmentalist Berta Caceres.

Convicted of the March 2, 2016, killing were former army officers Mariano Diaz and Douglas Bustillo, along with Sergio Ramon Rodriguez, Henry Hernandez, Elvin Rapalo, Oscar Torres and Edilson Duarte.

Sentences will be handed down on Jan. 10, 2019.

The eighth defendant, Emerson Duarte, in whose home authorities found the pistol used to kill Caceres, was acquitted.

Sergio Ramon Rodriguez is an executive with Energy Developments (DESA), the company responsible for a hydroelectric project in western Honduras that Caceres was opposing.

The convictions were read in the presence of the eight accused, who came to court under heavy guard.

Also attending the court session were relatives of Caceres, including her mother Austra Bertha Flores, the family’s attorneys and members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), the organization for which Caceres was the general coordinator.