By Ellie Holmes*
A criminal court in Honduras convicted three men accused of killing Honduran journalist Alfredo Villatoro in 2012, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) informed.
Villatoro, a journalist at radio station HRN, was found dead with two shots in the head on May 15, 2012, six days after he was kidnapped on his way to work. The crime came amidst a surge of violence against the press in the country that resulted in the killing of journalist and gay rights activist Erick Martinez just a few days before, the BBC reported.
On Mar. 25, a court in Tegucigalpa convicted Marvin Alonso Gómez, Osman Fernando and Edgar Francisco Orsorio Argujo for the crime. The three were detained 22 months ago as part of what RSF described as an “unprecedented wave” of arrests that were made after Villatoro’s death.
Sentencing is set for April 25 and the three are facing 40 years to life in prison.
The conviction came after the prosecution presented evidence such as DNA identification and records that showed ransom calls had been made to Villatoro’s family.
“We welcome this conviction, we look forward to the sentencing and we like to think that the thorough investigation by the special prosecutor for organized crime is indicative of a desire by the authorities to reestablish justice in Honduras,” said Camille Soulier, head of RSF’s Americas desk.
Villatoro’s murder is one of 40 Honduran journalists over the last decade.
*Ellie Holmes is a student in the class "Journalism in Latin America" at the University of Texas at Austin.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
