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Juan Orlando Hernández in a file image.
The Honduran Supreme Court of Justice on Monday ratified the extradition of former President Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States, where he is accused of three charges associated with drug trafficking and the use of weapons.
The announcement was made by the spokesman for the Honduran Supreme Court, Melvin Duarte, who indicated that the “extradition” was granted unanimously.
“After analyzing all the grievances and the elements (…) presented by the technical defense in the appeal raised, (the plenary session) has ruled that the appeal raised has not been upheld, which means that the decision of the judge of first instance to grant the extradition of citizen Juan Orlando Hernández”.
The US justice accuses Hernández of three charges that would have been committed from 2004 to 2022. One is for “conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the United States”, with the “knowledge that said substance would be illegally imported into the United States” .
Additionally, he is charged with “manufacturing, distributing, and possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance aboard an aircraft registered in the United States.”
Another charge is for “using or carrying firearms, or aiding and abetting the use, possession and possession” of “machine guns and destructive devices.”
The weapons and destructive devices would be “in support of the conspiracy to import narcotics of which he is accused in count one,” according to a report that the US Embassy sent to the Honduran Foreign Ministry on February 14.
Hernandez, 53, said Monday in a public letter that he is “innocent” and “the victim of revenge and a conspiracy.”
Hernández is also accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect drug traffickers from judicial investigations.
Hernández was replaced as president of Honduras by Xiomara Castro in January following eight years in office.
At the beginning of March, a Honduran judge already authorized the extradition of Hernández, who has been in prison since mid-February.
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