The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of Honduras decides this Monday if it gives the green light for former president Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022) is extradited to the United States, where he is being prosecuted for drug trafficking.
The 15 magistrates of the CSJ meet in person this Monday, according to its president, Rolando Argueta, to resolve an appeal presented by Hernández’s lawyers, against the decision of a judge who in mid-March authorized the extradition.
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 awaits the decision on his extradition in a prison of the police special forces barracks, known as Los Cobras.
According to Honduran law, if the Supreme Court grants the extradition, the magistrates will notify the judge of the case, who will order the handover to the US authorities.
If denied, the defendant will be released immediately.
"Living Dead"
From prison, former President Hernández defended himself, reiterating that it is "innocent" and "victim of a revenge and a conspiracy".
"I am sure that God will do me justice"he said in a handwritten letter released on Monday.
He recognized that he was living a moment "painful" and what is "hard to be apart" of your 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"argument.
He said he believed "that with the sincere will of the country’s institutions and sectors, plus the accompaniment of our partners and allies, it would be a win-win".
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 "a revenge of the cartels" that his government helped to extradite and that now seek to reduce their sentences: "An orchestrated plot so that no government will face them again".
drugs and weapons
"Justice will prevail and there are solid and strong legal arguments that have been raised and that the Supreme Court of Justice must analyze" to reject the extradition, expressed the ex-governor’s wife, Ana García.
"If there is a judged citizen, he must be judged in our country"he added.
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 consider 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 awaiting extradition.
His brother, the 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 "possessing firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, in support of the narcotics importation conspiracy".
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.
