The case represents a rare challenge to a senior military commander and comes after journalists pressured authorities to take action.
An unprecedented case against a former Honduran military commander who called a group of journalists “truth hitmen” could set a precedent for press freedom in the country.
A judge ruled(opens in new tab) Sept. 1 that there was sufficient evidence to move forward with a preliminary hearing that could lead to a public trial of former Honduran Armed Forces chief Roosevelt Hernández on charges related to attacks against the press.
The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14. Hernández appealed(opens in new tab) the decision, arguing that the court improperly excluded documents submitted by his defense.
Press-freedom and human-rights organizations in Honduras consider the case significant because it is the first time a military commander of Hernández’s rank has faced criminal proceedings related to freedom of expression. Hernández also served as defense secretary during the administration of former President Xiomara Castro, whose term ended in January 2026.
“This is an emblematic and historic case,” Dina Meza, director of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights (Asopodehu(opens in new tab)), which has supported the journalists who filed the complaint against Hernández, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR).
Meza said the case is the result of advocacy by journalists and human-rights organizations to pressure prosecutors to move forward with the investigation.
The controversy dates to the electoral campaign that led to the election of President Nasry Asfura(opens in new tab), who took office Jan. 27, 2026.
In November 2024, the military legal auditor of the Honduran Armed Forces filed a complaint(opens in new tab) with the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeking to open proceedings against 12 news organizations for alleged defamation and slander.
Then, the March 9, 2025, primary elections marked a further escalation in hostility toward the press, said Thelma Mejía, a Honduran journalist and board member of the Central American Journalists Network (RCP), in an interview with LJR. That day, 72% of polling stations(opens in new tab) were affected by delays in the delivery of election materials. The Armed Forces were responsible(opens in new tab) for guarding the materials.
The press sought explanations and even asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate. That reportedly angered Hernández, Mejía said.
Front page of “FF.AA. Digital,” the official newspaper of the Armed Forces, on May 26, 2025, with the the headline “truth hitmen.” (Screenshot)
On May 26, 2025, the front page and inside pages of “FF.AA. Digital,” the official newspaper of the Armed Forces, published accusations(opens in new tab) against journalists Dagoberto Rodríguez, Rodrigo Wong Arévalo and Juan Carlos Sierra under the headline “truth hitmen.” The publication accused them of spreading false information, which the journalists described as an act of stigmatization, incitement to hatred and defamation.
The same accusations were made on social media, according to the prosecution’s filing, which details the crimes Hernández is accused of by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of Journalists, Social Communicators, Human Rights Defenders and Justice Operators.
Prosecutors also included comments made by the general at a public event in which he accused journalist José Adán López of allegedly being a member of organized crime. They also cited banners posted at several locations in Tegucigalpa(opens in new tab) featuring photographs of journalists and the message: “Truth hitmen, weapons of mass disinformation, they don’t want elections to take place.” Those responsible identified themselves as the Honduran Popular Movement and did not indicate any connection to the Armed Forces.
The prosecution’s filing analyzes changes in the editorial line of the Armed Forces’ magazine after Hernández took command, as well as changes in his public statements.
According to the prosecution, Hernández faces charges of inciting discrimination and violating fundamental rights, including freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
According to a recent report by C-Libre(opens in new tab), attacks against the press and human-rights defenders increased 19.6% during the country’s 2025 electoral period. The report found that the state apparatus was the main perpetrator: 22.8% of attacks came from officials in the administration of former President Xiomara Castro, 49% from the Armed Forces and 17% from the National Police.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) detailed the actions of the Armed Forces in its 2025 annual report, including those described in the prosecution’s filing.
“Against a backdrop of a gradual deterioration of public debate and freedom of expression in Honduras, this Office is also alarmed by multiple reports of stigmatization and intimidation directed at the press by members of the Armed Forces,” RELE wrote in its report. “These actions have taken the form of public statements by the military’s senior leadership as well as the initiation and threat of criminal proceedings that appear aimed at intimidating and silencing journalists who investigate the institution’s activities.”
Meza said the case against Hernández over the Honduran Armed Forces’ attacks on the press would not have been possible without a long campaign by Asopodehu and the Youth Promoters and Defenders of Human Rights (Joprodeh).
The organizations pressured the Public Prosecutor’s Office for three weeks to release the investigation document.
“We had to engage in sustained and strong advocacy for three weeks before they issued the prosecution’s filing. Through our investigations, we learned that they had shelved the filing even though it was already completed, and we denounced possible backroom deals. That’s how we pressured them, through repeated public appearances,” Meza said.
Javier Acevedo, director of the Center for Research and Promotion of Human Rights (Ciprodeh), said the timing of the case could raise questions about whether the prosecution is politically motivated. Prosecutors filed the case in November 2025, shortly before Asfura took office. His victory in the presidential election also marked a change in the governing party in Honduras.
“It could serve as a legal precedent and case law for how to respond to actions that could amount to coercion or restrict freedom of expression,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said it was a positive that the case could serve as a model for similar complaints and efforts to demand that authorities follow the same investigative approach. He said it could also encourage journalists who are victims of other crimes to continue pressing for justice.
“We have a lot of impunity in cases involving journalists,” he said.
For Mejía, the case could also help prevent potential confrontations with the new government of President Asfura.
“We believe this government probably won’t have the same level of confrontation with the media as the previous one,” Mejía said. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I think they will be more strategic and more sophisticated in the ways they try to control public opinion.”
This text was translated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Jorge Valencia.
