that complexity should be determined by the nature of the charges, the number of accused and the political and social situation prevailing in the place and at the time when the events occurred.289 191. Accordingly, based on the criteria taken into account by this Court in determining the complexity of the case, it notes that: i) the motive for the murder of Mr. Luna López is related to his work in defense of the environment and the complaints he made; ii) the incident occurred in a public place and therefore in the presence of witnesses; iii) in terms of the number of accused, this Court considers that the full number of alleged perpetrators was established in the different statements rendered in the proceeding; iv) the material authors acted as hired gunmen, which indicates the involvement of intellectual authors; v) the participation of at least 10 alleged material and intellectual authors was investigated; vi) two judges withdrew from the case due to alleged partiality and fear; vii) two prosecutors were allegedly threatened by the accused; viii) one of the material authors was a fugitive from February 21, 2001, when the warrant for his arrest warrant was issued, until April 29, 2008, when he was deported from the United States of America and detained at the Toncontin Airport. This indicates that the case was complex. 192. With respect to the conduct of the judicial authorities, several failings, omissions and delays in the proceeding have been documented, mainly attributable to actions by the judiciary (supra para. 170). Nevertheless, the Court notes that in the course of the judicial investigations: i) approximately 120 statements were taken from family members, friends, Mr. Luna López’s colleagues from the Municipality, eyewitnesses and the alleged perpetrators; ii) approximately nine face-to-face hearings were held; iii) two inspections were conducted at the crime scene; iv) numerous arrest warrants and immigration alerts were issued against the presumed perpetrators; v) a judicial file regarding the crimes of theft of timber, damages and a cover-up that involved the alleged perpetrators of the murder of Mr. Luna López was investigated; vi) a judicial inspection was conducted in the regional offices of CODEFHOR in Juticalpa to examine the records of hearings and visits to this institution; vii) the material and intellectual authors were investigated, resulting in final court rulings. 193. As to the determination of responsibility,290 the Court considers that, taking into account the complexity of the case, the conviction of the first material author in 2002, and the final acquittal of Jorge Chávez before the Supreme Court in 2006, occurred within a reasonable period of time. On the other hand, the recent conviction of the second material author did involve greater delay, particularly since his arrest warrant has not yet been executed. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that in view of the fact that the accused was a fugitive from justice, he was deported in 2008 and convicted in 2013; therefore, taking these circumstances into account, the Court finds the time period reasonable. As to determining the responsibility of other persons mentioned in the case, the authorities conducted several proceedings, which concluded in 2004, due to the lack of evidence that would establish their participation. 289 Cf. ECHR, Case of Milasi v. ltaly. Judgment of June 25, 1987, para. 16. 290 From the time of the events and as part of the investigations carried out in this case, one of the material authors was sentenced of three years and six months in prison (2002). He was later murdered while in the State’s custody, after reporting on several occasions that he had received death threats because of his testimony and had requested protection (2006). Regarding the intellectual authorship, a process was opened against the two presumed perpetrators. One was acquitted seven years after the beginning of the trial against him (2006) and the other was murdered during his trial, which lasted more than 10 years (2008). In 2013, a second material author was convicted after a process lasting approximately 14 years and six months (2013), but has not been arrested to date. 58

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