Former President Hernandez will return to Honduras after Trump’s pardon | Narcotics Issues

Trump called the Hernandez drug-trafficking case set up by the Biden administration.

Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez has returned to Honduras from the United States after President Donald Trump pardoned him after serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.

Hernandez returned to the Central American country on Sunday, four years after being extradited to the US. He is now due to stand trial in Honduras on charges of fraud and money laundering, but activists fear he will never see true justice.

Trump issued a presidential pardon in December for Hernandez, saying he did not receive a fair trial and was set up by the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

“I can’t help but be touched by the joy I feel in my heart to be back home,” Hernandez wrote on social media earlier this month, saying he was counting down the days to see his family.

“It wasn’t easy. This job has been very difficult… and what I went through in prison, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he added.

When he arrived at Palmerola International Airport, he was welcomed by his family and many supporters of his National Party.

The arrest warrant has been suspended

Although he was acquitted of the US charges, Hernandez is expected to appear in court on August 3 to answer the Honduran charges.

However, he was not arrested immediately after he arrived in Honduras because the warrant for his arrest was suspended in June, and rights activists are concerned that the case will be false.

“Everything points to the suspension being the first step,” said Joaquin Mejia, a lawyer and researcher at the Reflection, Research and Communication Team, a human rights organization.

“They will come, they will give him some means of imprisoning him so that he will not be seen, then he will be harmless, without any punishment.”

“There are many people who are angry but they don’t speak out because of fear,” added Mejia, “We are talking about all drug lords.”

Hernandez, who was once considered an ally of the US in the “war on drugs”, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022. During this time, he said in a meeting with drug dealers. “shove the medicine up the noses of the gringos”, according to the US Attorney at his trial in New York.

The Pandora Papers corruption investigation accused Hernandez and other senior officials of spending nearly $11m in public funds for political parties from 2010 to 2013. Some of this money was used for Hernandez’s first presidential campaign.

Former president Porfirio Lobo and former finance minister Wilfredo Cerrato were both implicated in the same investigation, and the charges against them were dismissed.