A Honduran judge grants former President Juan Orlando Hernandez release as corruption trial proceeds
A judge in Honduras ruled Monday that former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who recently returned to the Central American country after a Trump pardon for drug trafficking charges in the U.S., will not be jailed during his trial for fraud and money laundering.
Source excerpt
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A judge in Honduras ruled Monday that former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who recently returned to the Central American country after a Trump pardon for drug trafficking charges in the U.S., will not be jailed during his trial for fraud and money laundering.
The case is being closely watched as a litmus test for the country’s justice system after critics say the former leader ruled with impunity for years.
Hernández, once considered an ally by the U.S. in the drug war, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, during which he boasted that he would “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to U.S. prosecutors.
He was extradited to the United States for his drug trafficking trial shortly after leaving office and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
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