Family of slain Honduran activist appeal to US court for help in her murder trial

The children of Berta Cáceres want to subpoena bank records to a luxury house purchased by the alleged mastermind of the murder

Nina Lakhani
Sat 31 Aug 2019 03.00 EDT

The children of murdered Honduran activist Berta Cáceres have applied to a US federal court to subpoena bank records linked to a $1.4m luxury house in Texas purchased by the alleged mastermind of the crime just months after the killing.

Cáceres, 44, a winner of the prestigious Goldman prize for environmental defenders, was shot dead at her home by a hired gunmen on 2 March 2016 after a long battle to stop construction of an internationally financed hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque river, which the Lenca people consider sacred.

In November 2018, seven men were convicted of carrying out the murder, which the court in Tegucigalpa ruled was ordered by executives of the Agua Zarca dam company Desa because of delays and financial losses linked to protests led by Cáceres.

One of the executives identified in court was David Roberto Castillo Mejía, the CEO of Desa. In March 2018 Castillo was indicted as an “intellectual author”, who is alleged to have coordinated with, and provided funds to, the killers. He vehemently denies any involvement.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/berta-caceres-murder-trial-subpoena-david-castillo?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard&fbclid=IwAR1Hhh11wVWDfa7S56vEUEMnOc-sJXxMGNB9JXJLSmJ6edI_xqkCIy0e9bo



Berta Cáceres, as a young mother with her children











David Roberto Castillo Mejía, the CEO of Desa