TEGUCIGALPA – Four years after being extradited to the United States for his drug trafficking trial, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández arrived in his nation Sunday to face corruption costs that legal professionals concern will probably be a sham course of.
Hernández, as soon as thought-about an ally by the U.S. within the drug warfare, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, throughout which he boasted that he would “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” in accordance to U.S. prosecutors.
His extradition shortly after leaving office marked a rare chance at justice for Hondurans, who feared his hold on the country’s justice system would never allow a conviction on Honduran soil.
But the previous chief, sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States, was launched in December, to the shock of many within the U.S. and Honduras, after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Hernández did not receive a fair trial and that it was a setup orchestrated by the Biden administration.
Hernández now returns to Honduras to face corruption costs amid considerations {that a} weak justice system and his party’s return to the presidency will guarantee his impunity.
“There is a social majority that is outraged but doesn’t speak out because of fear,” said Joaquín Mejía, lawyer and researcher for the human rights organization Reflection, Research and Communication Team. “We’re speaking concerning the boss of all drug bosses.”
Some within the nation welcomed his return. Hernández was greeted at Palmerola International Airport by his mom, spouse, youngsters and granddaughter in addition to dozens of supporters of his National Party.
“The moment has arrived. After four years, I can finally tell you that we will see each other again,” Hernández stated in a video posted on social media earlier than his arrival.
Hernández, 57, faces costs associated to a case often called Pandora I, which alleges {that a} community of former high-ranking officers from 2010 to 2013 participated within the enlargement and approval of public funds disbursements totaling greater than 288 million lempiras ($10.8 million) to numerous foundations, in accordance to an investigation by the nation’s Specialized Prosecutor’s Unit Against Corruption Networks, or UFERCO.
According to UFERCO, Hernández benefited from these disbursements, receiving not less than 62 million lempiras ($2.3 million) for his political marketing campaign by way of numerous schemes, together with the creation of shell corporations, the usage of straw males and fictitious contracts.
Hernández has stated he’s harmless and that the case “lacks any legal basis.”
In June, a choose suspended his arrest warrant and the international red notice issued to Interpol on the request of Hernández’s lawyer, though the case remains to be pending. The former president has agreed to seem earlier than the choose on Aug. 3 for his arraignment.
Other high-level officers implicated in Pandora I whose instances have been dismissed point out the doubtless end result for Hernández, in accordance to authorized consultants.
“Everything points to the suspension being the first step,” Mejía stated. “He’ll come, they’ll likely issue him alternative measures to imprisonment to keep up appearances, and then he’ll end up without any problem, without any sanction.”
For Luis Javier Santos, the previous head of UFERCO who investigated the case towards Hernández, the previous chief’s return represents a failure to prosecute him for his crimes fairly than an opportunity for justice.
Santos was faraway from his position in UFERCO in February in what he believes demonstrated makes an attempt to stifle anti-corruption investigations by the brand new authorities of Nasry Asfura, of Hernández’s National Party, which took office in January after gaining Trump’s backing during elections.
“We have gone backward to an even worse point than when all the work to fight corruption began,” Santos stated.
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Brigida reported from Mexico City.
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