Former Honduras president to face corruption trial free of custody
by Macarena Hermosilla · UPIAug. 4 (UPI) -- A Honduran court ruled that former President Juan Orlando Hernández will stand trial on money laundering and fraud charges while remaining free under court supervision, and that the case will proceed before a lower criminal court rather than the country's Supreme Court.
Although prosecutors initially sought pretrial detention, the Public Ministry did not oppose a defense request during Monday's initial hearing for Hernández to remain free while the case moves forward.
The latest legal proceedings come months after Hernández was unexpectedly released from a U.S. prison.
Hernández was extradited to the United States in April 2022 and was later sentenced by a federal court in New York to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking and weapons charges. President Donald Trump granted him a full presidential pardon on Dec. 1, vacating the sentence on the grounds that the original judicial process had lacked impartiality.
According to local media reports, the Criminal Court for Organized Crime and Corruption ruled that Hernández, who voluntarily surrendered to authorities July 26, met the legal requirements to remain free under judicial supervision while awaiting trial.
The court barred him from leaving Honduras and ordered him to report to authorities once a week.
Prosecutors accuse Hernández of participating in the diversion of $10.8 million in public funds to finance his 2013 presidential campaign.
The case will be handled by the ordinary criminal justice system after judges rejected a defense motion filed Friday seeking to keep the proceedings before the Supreme Court. The judge originally assigned to the case ruled that the high court lacked jurisdiction because Hernández no longer enjoys the immunity granted to a sitting president.
Hernández returned to Honduras on July 26, eight months after he was released from U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia. Thousands of supporters from his National Party gathered at the airport in Tegucigalpa to welcome him home and denounce what they described as "political persecution."
Some civil society groups criticized the decision to allow Hernández to remain free, calling it "a snapshot of Honduran impunity" that weakens public confidence in the country's institutions, according to local news outlet Criterio.hn.
The court scheduled the initial evidentiary hearing Aug. 12.