LIMON: A Costa Rican court acquitted seven men Monday accused in the brutal murder of environmentalist Jairo Mora and the rape of four volunteers who worked with him to protect sea turtles.
The court in the coastal city of Limon, about 170 kilometers (100 miles) east of the capital, acquitted the men for lack of evidence of their involvement in the 2013 killing of Mora by masked men while he was protecting nests of leatherback turtles on the beach.
The panel of judges criticized the prosecution for botching their case.
Prosecutors had claimed the seven defendants were part of a band who looted and sold turtle eggs and saw Mora, who was 26, as interfering with their business.
The eggs are sought-after in Costa Rica where they often are sold to be eaten.
Judge Yolanda Alvarado explained that the admitted evidence "did not establish certainty" the defendants were responsible for the murder that shocked the country in its brutality.
The lawyers made "biased and irresponsible" interpretations in their prosecution, the judges said.
The May 31, 2013 murder of Mora and rape of four of his female colleagues shocked Costa Rica, a Central American country known for its progressive environmental policies.
According to the indictment, four women (three Americans and one Spaniard) were tied up and sexually assaulted while Mora was knocked unconscious, tied to a truck and dragged along the beach before he died.
The acquittal stunned the families of the victims as well as environmentalists who now fear more attacks.
"It's a national disgrace, a stain on the reputation of the country," Randall Arauz, head of a sea turtle preservation group in Costa Rica, told AFP.
"How is it possible that the state has been unable to guarantee an adequate investigation?"
The prosecution can still appeal the court's decision. But the court warned the mismanagement of the case may have already caused irreparable harm to an appeal.
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