Honduran Attorney General João Zelaya has requested assistance from Interpol and instructed national authorities to execute an arrest warrant for former President Juan Orlando Hernández.
Hernandez was released from US prison last week after being granted a pardon by President Donald Trump. He was originally sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States.
Zelaya said the Honduran prosecutor’s office is obliged to take action after the pardon to preserve justice.
According to the arrest order, Hernandez must be detained in Honduras if U.S. authorities release him.
The former Honduran leader was extradited to the US in 2022 by the country’s current President Xiomara Castro.
According to the arrest order, Hernandez must be detained in Honduras if U.S. authorities allow his return.
Hernández was also implicated in the so-called Pandora affair, in which Honduran politicians and state officials allegedly transferred government funds to political parties using a network of NGOs. According to the case, Hernández’s 2013 presidential campaign received some funds.
Hernandez insists on innocence
Hernández’s lawyer, Renato Stabile, described the move as “purely political” and said it was an attempt to “intimidate” the former leader.
“This is a shameful and desperate piece of political theater and these allegations are completely baseless,” Stabile said.
Hernandez’s wife said he is currently at an undisclosed location due to security reasons. The former president has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
This comes after elections in Honduras ended in a “technical tie” between Conservative National Party candidate Nasri Asfura and Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla. Asfura, who is supported by Trump, is ahead by less than one percentage point.
Trump declared Assoufa a “friend of freedom”, while also accusing Nasrallah of “pretending to be anti-communist”. Asufa’s support of the US President was condemned by the Libre Party, who called it “interference and coercion” in Honduran elections.
Nasrallah alleged that the election results were “stolen”.
“It is the corrupt people who are stopping the counting process,” he said.
Assufa’s victory could help ensure Hernandez’s return to his country, while Nasralla’s election campaign focuses on the fight against corruption, saying the former president stole the 2017 vote from him due to irregularities.
Trump said releasing Hernandez reflected the will of the people of Honduras. Reactions in Honduras were mixed: some remembered his two terms positively, while others expressed surprise at the acquittal of a man convicted of drug trafficking.
Trump said he reviewed Hernandez’s case and found his treatment by prosecutors unfair.
Edited by: Louis Olofse