Justice Delay

A preliminary hearing in the case of three men accused of intellectually orchestrating the September 2024 killing of environmental activist and former Tocoa councilman Juan López has been rescheduled to October 1, while two of the accused remain under house arrest rather than jailed pending trial—a decision that a local defense committee says endangers López's family and other land defenders.

A court in Tegucigalpa has stalled for 18 months on two appeals challenging the pretrial detention of four men accused of the July 2020 disappearance of five Garífuna community leaders from Triunfo de la Cruz, with prosecutors filing a motion to force a ruling.