General Romeo Vásquez, who led the 2009 coup d’état in Honduras that overthrew leftist president Manuel Zelaya, and two other former military chiefs appeared before justice on Friday for the death of a protester during those events. Vásquez, who was the head of the Armed Forces that year, and the other two generals participated in a private hearing before a capital court that was finally suspended to resume Saturday. This proceeding must resolve whether they are acquitted or if the process continues against the accused, who have been detained since Sunday.
After nearly 11 hours, the judge stopped the hearing and “tomorrow (Saturday) at 9:00 a.m. (15H00 GMT) it will continue,” the prosecutor’s office specified on social network X. Vásquez denounced a “political persecution” against him, but the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Honduras stated that this case constitutes “progress” in “access to justice and the fight against impunity.”
Demonstration
In this judicial proceeding, it must “be decided whether or not to issue a formal processing order” against the three retired military officers, explained the Judicial Power spokesman, Melvin Duarte. With “a minimal burden of proof,” the court will order to proceed with the trial of the generals, added the spokesperson.
They are “allegedly responsible for the crimes of homicide and serious injuries” to Isy Obed Murillo (who died at age 19) and Alex Zavala, respectively, according to the Prosecutor’s accusation. Both victims were participating on July 5, 2009, in a demonstration – repressed by the army – against the civic-military coup that had removed Zelaya, husband of current Honduran president Xiomara Castro, from power a week earlier.
The three high-ranking officers were transferred to court under heavy security measures from the National Penitentiary, 27 km north of the capital. The other two are generals Venancio Cervantes and Carlos Puerto.
Dozens of pro-government demonstrators gathered outside the court to demand convictions for the military officers. About fifteen relatives and retired officers also came to the site in solidarity with the accused.
Let him pay what he owes
Murillo’s family expects a conviction against Vásquez. “We don’t want him to be acquitted or to get house arrest [alternative measure to prison]. No, no, none of that, let him pay what he owes,” said David Murillo, father of the deceased young man. However, the general’s wife, Lícida Zelaya, told journalists outside the court that the three military officers are “innocent.”
“We need to know who is the real culprit” so that “justice is done, not only for the three generals but for Isy Obed,” indicated Vásquez’s wife, who is not related to former president Zelaya. The woman maintained that these generals are “political prisoners,” brought to justice “in the style of Venezuela’s regime,” referring to Nicolás Maduro’s government.
The complaint against the generals was filed years ago by the NGO Cofadeh, but was reactivated now by the new attorney general, Johel Zelaya, who is aligned with the government, according to the opposition, although he is not part of the former president’s family either. According to the opposition, this process is a “political persecution” undertaken by the prosecutor.
NGO asks to prosecute Micheletti
Cofadeh requested on Thursday that the prosecutor’s office also process former president Roberto Micheletti, the rightist leader of the Honduran Congress who assumed the presidency for Zelaya when he was overthrown on June 28, 2009. Micheletti “was the commander in chief of the Armed Forces and could have ordered General Vásquez to cease using weapons and live ammunition against the people who were protesting” against the coup, indicated the NGO coordinator, Bertha Oliva.
Cofadeh asked that Micheletti, 81 years old and retired from politics, be tried not only for Murillo’s death but also for two other protesters in 2009.
