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Tegucigalpa, Apr 12 (EFE).- The resolution on the extradition of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández to the United States, a country that accuses him of three charges associated with drug trafficking and the use of weapons, was already signed by the fifteen magistrates of the plenary session of the Supreme Court, a judicial source reported on Tuesday.
“The signatures of the 15 magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) are completed in the second instance ruling in the extradition file that relates to former president Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado,” the Honduran Supreme Court said in a message on Twitter.
He added that in “the last few hours, (the) last two magistrates who had commitments outside the country affixed their signatures.”
The “Ad Hoc” Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court declared on April 7 “inadmissible” the last appeal filed by the defense of Hernández, 53, in a new attempt to avoid his extradition to the United States.
The fifteen magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice ratified on March 28 the extradition of the ex-governor who had authorized in the first instance on the 16th of the same month a natural judge appointed to hear the petition.
On February 14, the United States asked the Honduran government for the “preventive arrest” for extradition purposes of Hernández, who was captured a day later at his home in Tegucigalpa.
The spokesman for the Honduran Supreme Court, Melvin Duarte, told reporters today that the next step is to send the case documentation to the first-instance extradition judge, who will be in charge of “ordering the delivery” of Hernández to the United States.
Afterwards, the procedure would continue with the US authorities to proceed with the extradition, according to the agreed order.
Until now, the Honduran authorities have not specified the date on which Hernández, who governed Honduras for eight years (2014-2022), would be extradited, despite the fact that the Constitution does not allow presidential re-election under any modality.
The Honduran Supreme Court received an appeal on the eve of the extradition ruling of former National Police Chief Juan Carlos Bonilla Valladares, who is wanted by the US for drug trafficking and use of weapons, crimes involving former President Hernández.
The appeal was filed by the defense of Bonilla Valladares, who was charged in April 2020 and requested by the US in May 2021 for two charges related to drug trafficking and use of weapons, for which he might face in the US a maximum of life imprisonment.
He is accused of participating in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices in connection with the conspiracy to import drugs, and using and carrying firearms in furtherance of the cocaine importation conspiracy, according to the petition.
The former police director, who held the position between 2012 and 2013, was captured on March 9 north of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and remains detained in a military battalion.
(c) EFE Agency
