The justice of Honduras gave the green light on Wednesday to the extradition of former president Juan Orlando Hernandez (2014-2022) to the United States where he must be tried for drug trafficking, announced on Twitter the Supreme Court of Honduras. Justice (CSJ) of Honduras.
“The extradition judge of first instance decides (to) accept the request for extradition presented by the court of the Southern District of New York concerning the ex-president of the Republic Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado”, announced the CSJ.
This decision is subject to appeal within the next three days, said a spokesman for the judiciary, Melvin Duarte. In this case, it would be the Supreme Court sitting in plenary session that would have the last word.
Under the terms of the extradition request, American justice wants to try the former head of state in particular for “conspiracy” to import drugs into the United States and “possession of firearms, including submachine guns and equipment of destruction to aid in the conspiracy to import narcotics”.
Also according to the extradition request, Juan Orlando Hernandez “participated (from 2004 to 2022) in the violent conspiracy of drug trafficking for the receipt of numerous tons of cocaine sent to Honduras from Colombia and Venezuela, among others, by air or sea”.
“The conspiracy transported more than 500 tons of cocaine to the United States via Honduras,” adds the extradition request.
According to US prosecutors in charge of the case in New York, the former head of state of Honduras received millions of dollars from various drug trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and other countries.
In exchange for these bribes, Juan Orlando Hernandez “protected the drug traffickers from investigations (avoiding their) arrest and extradition”, assure the American authorities.
– The name of “El Chapo” –
In 2013 Mr. “Hernández accepted approximately one million dollars from the drug trafficker Joaquin Guzmán Loera, alias El Chapo”, they add.
During the trial in the United States of Juan Orlando Hernandez’s brother, ex-Congressman “Tony” Hernandez, New York prosecutors believe that the former president was involved in the drug trafficking for which “Tony” Hernandez was was sentenced in March 2021 to life imprisonment.
Known in Honduras by the initials of his name – “JOH” – the former conservative president is a 53-year-old lawyer. He handed over power on January 27 to left-wing president Xiomara Castro.
President for eight years, he presented himself during his two terms as the champion of the fight against drug trafficking destined for the United States.
Dressed in an elegant suit, “JOH” arrived Wednesday morning with an impressive escort of special forces police to attend the hearing before the SCJ judge.
At the end of the hearing, he was reinstated by a heavily armed convoy amid a heavy deployment of police at the barracks where he has been held since his arrest on February 15.
Outside the Tegucigalpa Palace of Justice, supporters of the former president’s National Party had massed claiming the innocence of Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Juan Orlando Hernandez, a 53-year-old conservative lawyer, ceded power on January 27 to the new left-wing president Xiomara Castro, after two four-year terms.
“It is a very sad day for our family (…) I repeat to the whole world and to Honduras that my husband is innocent. He is the victim of a conspiracy and revenge by drug traffickers who have been extradited (by him) and who, to negotiate their sentences, now accuse Juan Orlando”, declared Ana Garcia, the wife of the former head of state, taking up the arguments of this one.
– “Sufficient clues” –
Previously, the defense of “JOH” argued that “the United States has presented no sufficient and reliable evidence”.
However, the spokesman for the judiciary Melvin Duarte explained that, to grant an extradition, it is enough to present “sufficient indications”.
Juan Orlando Hernandez can only be tried in the United States for the charges which are attributed to him and which have been retained by the justice of Honduras, indicated the spokesperson who stressed that the approval of extradition does not constitute declaration of guilt. This will have to be established by the American justice system.
For US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the former head of state “committed or facilitated acts of corruption and drug trafficking” and “used the earnings from illicit activities to (finance) political campaigns” .
According to US prosecutors, “JOH” is a “co-initiator” of the traffic and made Honduras a “narco-state” by implicating the army and the police in drug trafficking to the United States.
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