(Tegucigalpa) Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (2014-2022), suspected of drug trafficking by the United States which is requesting his extradition, will remain in pre-trial detention after the rejection Thursday of an appeal to the Supreme Court .
Posted yesterday at 6:53 p.m.
“By a majority of votes, there is no appeal,” said Supreme Court spokesman Carlos Silva, referring to the petition filed by the former head of state who asked to be placed under house arrest.
The 53-year-old former president, usually referred to by his initials JOH, is incarcerated at the police special forces command headquarters in eastern Tegucigalpa.
On February 14, the United States requested the arrest and extradition of the former right-wing leader, accused of complicity in the export of approximately 500 tons of cocaine to the American market since 2004.
The home of Mr. Hernandez, who rejects the charges against him, was then immediately surrounded by 600 police officers. The next day, targeted by an arrest warrant issued by a judge of the Honduran Supreme Court, he surrendered to the police.
He was presented to a judge the next day and will be heard again on March 16.
The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, revealed on February 7 that Mr. Hernandez appeared, since the 1er July 2021, on a list of people accused by the United States of corruption or undermining democracy in Central America.
JOH has “committed or facilitated acts of corruption and drug trafficking, and used proceeds from these illicit activities for political campaigns,” Blinken said.
His younger brother, former congressman Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, was sentenced in March 2021 in the United States to life in prison for drug trafficking. New York prosecutors suspect JOH of being his accomplice.
Mr. Hernandez left power on January 27 after two terms at the head of Honduras, replaced by the left-wing president, Xiomara Castro.