TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Defenders of six Honduran environmental activists convicted this week for alleged actions against a mining operation plan to seek relief under a recently passed amnesty for political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

The conviction of six of the so-called Guapinol 8 on Wednesday brought international criticism on the new government of President Xiomara Castro. While their case long predates her two-week old administration, advocates are calling on Castro’s government to act.

Most of the men had been in pre-trial detention since 2019, accused of deprivation of liberty and aggravated arson. Two of the eight were acquitted.

They are all members of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods, which has been protesting the legality of mining concessions in northern Honduras they argue threaten the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers. The concessions are inside a national park.

“We are going to submit a legal appeal together with the defense that they be included in the amnesty approved by congress,” said Hugo Maldonado, president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras. “The trial has been manipulated and there hasn’t been due process.”

Maldonado referred to a broad amnesty passed last week that some criticized for helping people from the administration of Castro’s husband, former President Manuel Zelaya. It covers those targeted “for opposing and protesting against the coup” that removed Zelaya from office in 2009.

It wasn’t immediately clear how it could be applied to the environmental activists, but their lawyer Kenia Oliva told local media that they would appeal under the portion of the law that addresses “defenders of national sovereignty.”

Prosecutors allege the activists damaged private property and illegally held a security expert during a clash with the mine’s security team. But advocates have long asserted that the arrests were arbitrary and aimed at quelling protests against the mine.

“This verdict is outrageous and goes against Honduras’ obligations to guarantee the right to defend human rights. It must be overturned immediately,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “We will not stop demanding this of the authorities until all of the Guapinol defenders are immediately and unconditionally released.”

The men are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21.

Isabel Albaladejo Escribano, representative of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras, expressed “deep concern” over the verdict.

Her office said they had followed the trial closely. There was a lack of impartiality and prosecutors did not meet a minimum standard of proof, the statement said. She called for the convictions to be overturned.

Honduras is considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for environmental activists. One of its most infamous cases was the 2016 murder of Berta Cáceres, who was protesting a hydroelectric project.