The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) of Honduras authorized on Monday the extradition to the United States of former President Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022), where he will be prosecuted for drug trafficking, a crime that in that country can be punished with up to life imprisonment.
After analyzing all the elements, the Court “has ruled that the appeal filed [por la defensa del expresidente]”, which means “that the decision of the judge of first instance is confirmed, to grant the extradition of the citizen Juan Orlando Hernández”, said the spokesman for the Judiciary, Melvin Duarte. This decision is final.
Hernández will be tried for three crimes. The first referred to “conspiracy to import and distribute a controlled substance to the United States.” In this case, the 15 magistrates of the CSJ voted unanimously to grant the extradition.
In the case of the crimes of “use and possession of firearms” during the importation of narcotics, and “conspiracy to use firearms”, the vote was 13 to 2. In the event of extradition, the accused can only be tried for the crimes authorized by the justice of the country of origin.
On February 14, the United States requested the extradition of JOH -as he is known by his initials-, whom he accuses of conspiring to export some 500 tons of cocaine to its territory, since 2004.
A day later he was captured and remains in a prison in the police special forces barracks, known as Los Cobras.
From this moment, the US authorities can send their agents to search for Hernández.
– “Living Dead” –
From jail, Hernández defended himself, reiterating that he is “innocent” and “the victim of revenge and a conspiracy.”
“I am sure that God will do me justice,” he said in a handwritten letter released Monday.
He acknowledged that he is living a “painful” moment and that it is “hard to be separated” from his loved ones. “Three life sentences could make me a living dead.”
“I never believed that this fight for peace of us Hondurans would lead us to be known as a narco-state. I knew that this fight would not be easy, it would have many risks,” said the president.
The United States initially highlighted him as an ally in the fight against drug trafficking and was one of the first to recognize his re-election in 2017, when the opposition claimed fraud, amid protests that left thirty people dead.
Hernández again described the accusations against him as “revenge from the cartels” that his government helped extradite and that are now seeking to reduce their sentences: “An orchestrated plot so that no government will face them again.”
– Drugs and weapons –
The ex-governor’s wife, Ana García, considered that “if there is a judged citizen, he must be judged in our country.”
García arrived with a dozen supporters of the former president to the Court building in Tegucigalpa, claiming his innocence and praying for him.
Hernández, who left the Honduran presidency on January 27 after eight years in office, has been implicated by New York prosecutors as having ties to drug trafficking. The accusers believe that the activity of Hernández and his collaborators turned Honduras into a “narco-state.”
Like him, a former police chief accused of being his accomplice is also waiting for an extradition request from the United States to be resolved.
A brother of the former president, former deputy “Tony” Hernández, was sentenced in March 2021 to life imprisonment in the United States for the same crime.
In the petition, the United States singled out the former president for “conspiracy (…) to import controlled substance” and “possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, in support of conspiracy to import narcotics.”
According to the request, between 2004 and 2022 “Hernández participated in the violent drug trafficking conspiracy to receive shipments of multiple tons of cocaine sent to Honduras from Colombia and Venezuela, among other places”, by sea and air.
