A Honduran appeals court ordered three generals accused in the death of a protester in 2009 during demonstrations against the coup that overthrew leftist President Manuel Zelaya to return to preventive detention, the Judicial Branch reported on Monday. Retired generals Romeo Vásquez, 68, who was then head of the Armed Forces, Venancio Cervantes (69), and Carlos Puerto (63) had been under house arrest since January while the case proceeded regarding the death of 19-year-old protester Isy Obed Murillo.
But the court, “by unanimous vote,” declared “granted” the appeals filed by the Prosecutor’s Office and the victim’s family and ordered “preventive detention” for the three generals, indicated the Judicial Branch on its X social media account. Vásquez rejected the charges in statements to local media. “Let the prosecutor’s office prove that I gave an order to shoot,” he demanded and claimed they want to “assassinate” him.
“Now I have information that they also want to assassinate me. Is that why they want to send me to Támara?” he expressed, referring to the Tegucigalpa prison. Defense attorney Hermes Ramírez said he will present Vásquez “voluntarily” when filing an appeal on Tuesday against the measure.
The three former military chiefs, who were in preventive detention for six days in January, are being prosecuted as responsible for Murillo’s homicide and for serious injuries to another protester, Alex Zavala, according to the Prosecutor’s accusation. Both young men participated on July 5, 2009, in a protest—repressed by the military—against the coup that had removed Zelaya, husband of current Honduran President Xiomara Castro, from power a week earlier.
The complaint against the three generals was filed several years ago but was reactivated in 2024 by the current Attorney General, Johel Zelaya, who is aligned with the government, according to the opposition, although he is not related to the former president.
