Honduras: Court of Appeal's final dismissal order for Cesario Padilla Figueroa
Cesario Padilla (centre), reading the statement denouncing a decade of criminalisation, at a press conference in front of the Judiciary in Tegucigalpa, February 2024. PHOTO: Andrés Molina.
“PEN International welcomes the decision of the Honduras Court of Appeal to confirm the innocence of Cesario Padilla Figueroa and dismiss all charges faced over the last decade. He should never have been prosecuted, sentenced, and had his human rights limited.” Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.
10 May 2024: On 7 May, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Francisco Morazán ordered the final dismissal of charges against Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa and his fellow students Sergio Ulloa and Moisés Cáceres. They had been found guilty of the crime of “illegal detention of public property” and faced nearly a decade of rights restrictions and prosecution in retaliation for exercising their freedom of expression.
Before the latest Court’s decision, journalist, author, editor, student leader, and board member of PEN Honduras, Padilla Figueroa, faced a three-year prison sentence, forced labour while in prison, suspension of his rights, and payment for alleged damages claimed by the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH).
In 2023, PEN International and PEN Honduras requested amnesty as a legal remedy to end the legal harassment against Padilla Figueroa. In meetings held with Honduran authorities on Padilla Figueroa's behalf, the abuse by the authorities was discussed and a request was made for the charges to be dropped unconditionally.
Following the dismissal order by the Court of Appeal, PEN International calls on the Honduran authorities to take further action and ensure that Padilla Figueroa, Ulloa and Cáceres are accorded reparations, which must be adequate, effective, prompt and proportionate to the gravity of the violations and harm suffered since 2014.
In September 2023, Padilla Figueroa received a fellowship from UNESCO to develop his work on community radios, together with other Latin American journalists. However, he was not granted permission to leave the country to travel to Mexico for the opportunity. Padilla Figueroa is editor of the book Carcelaria and author of Un pasito adelante, aproximación historica del Comité Coordinador de Organizaciones Populares de Honduras (CCOP) (A little step forward, historical approach of the Coordinating Committee of Popular Organisations of Honduras (CCOP)).
PEN International has advocated on the case of Padilla Figueroa for over a decade, see Case Lists 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and our Day of Imprisoned Writer campaign.
For more information on our work in Honduras check here.
Notes to editors:
For more information, please contact Alicia Quiñones, Head of the Americas Region, at PEN International, email: alicia.quinones@pen-international.org