The president of the company that planned to build a hydroelectric plant in Honduras was sentenced Monday to 22 years and six months in prison for the murder of environmental activist Berta Cáceres in 2016.
Roberto David Castillo Mejía, president of Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA), the company that planned to build a dam in Agua Zarca, was found guilty in 2019 of being the co-author of the murder of Cáceres, who opposed the project.
On July 5, 2019, the Sentencing Court ruled unanimously to convict Castillo of developing a plan to remove "any obstacle" that interfered with DESA's operations.
Roberto David Castillo is taken by the police to the Supreme Court to hear the verdict in his trial related to the accusations that he is one of the intellectual authors responsible for the murder of environmentalist and indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. , on Monday, July 5, 2021. Elmer Martinez / AP
Seven people were also convicted in 2019 for the crime against Cáceres, co-founder and general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras.
Elvin Rápalo, Henry Hernández, Edilson Duarte and Oscar Torres Velásquez were sentenced to 34 years for the crime and received an additional 16 years for attempted murder.
While Mariano Díaz Chávez, author by omission responsible for a crime of consummated murder, received a sentence of 30 years in prison;
former soldier Douglas Geovanny Bustillo and Sergio Ramón Rodríguez, co-perpetrators of the murder, received a sentence of 30 years and six months in prison.
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His daughter, Olivia Zúniga Cáceres, stated that she was not satisfied with the sentence on Monday and assured that they
will use all legal resources at their disposal to achieve a more severe punishment.
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“It is extremely outrageous because the maximum sentence has not been applied, while the triggermen, the perpetrators of the crime, received sentences of more than 40 years in prison,” he told The Associated Press news agency. The Prosecutor's Office said that Castillo and Bustillo coordinated through text messages and phone calls to commit the crime.
The former provided logistics and resources and colluded with the rest of those now convicted to kill the environmentalist, authorities said.
Cáceres helped organize opposition to the construction of Agua Zarca on the Galcarque River, which is of vital importance to the livelihood of the Lenca people.
So far, the dam project remains on hold.
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Cáceres won the prestigious Goldman Prize for her environmental activism in 2015. She was murdered at her home in La Esperanza on March 3, 2016. A Mexican activist who was with her was also shot but survived.
Castillo can still appeal the sentence.