TEGUCIGALPA - About 300 judges, magistrates and lawyers took to the streets of the Honduran capital on Thursday to protest gang killings of 12 lawyers and judges in the past year.
Attacks on lawyers and judges by gangs have surged in Honduras’ main cities and arrests have been made in only one case. State investigators say they suspect drug traffickers may be paying hit men to kill judges handling cocaine smuggling-related crimes.
“We are here to call for peace, for an end to this criminal violence that afflicts all the country, even law professionals,” said Valentin Aguilar, president of the Honduran lawyers association.
Honduras is suffering from rising crime and violence. Gunmen shot and killed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya’s chief bodyguard outside his house in June.
