A judge in Honduras ordered three men to stand trial for the murder last year of an enviromental activist who opposed the digging of a strip mine in a nature reserve.

Activist Juan Lopez, who was also a local lawmaker, was shot on the night of September 14 as he left a church in the northeastern town of Tocoa. The killing drew international condemnation from the United Nations and Pope Francis.

A special court section ordered Tuesday a trial for three defendants named Oscar Alexis Guardado, Daniel Juarez and Lenis Adonis Cruz on charges of murder and racketeering, the justice ministry said in a statement.

It said that in the trial, prosecutors hope to find out who the masterminds of the killing were. The three defendants are accused of actually killing Lopez.

Lopez advocated the closin

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