Extract from ABC News
Juan Orlando Hernández was extradited to the United States in 2022. (AP: Elmer Martinez)
In short:
Honduras has issued an international arrest warrant for former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who left prison last week after being pardoned by US President Donald Trump.
Hernández had been sentenced in the US last year to 45 years in prison for helping move tons of cocaine to the United States.
What's next?
Honduras are asking Interpol to execute the international arrest warrant against Hernández, accusing him of "crimes of money laundering and fraud".
Honduras has issued an international arrest warrant for former president Juan Orlando Hernández, who left prison last week after being pardoned by US President Donald Trump.
Hernández had been sentenced in US federal court last year to 45 years in prison for helping move tons of cocaine to the United States, but was released last week after Mr Trump pardoned him.
Honduras Attorney-General Johel Zelaya posted on X that he had asked Interpol to execute the international arrest warrant against Hernández.
Juan Orlando Hernández was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. (Reuters: Andy Buchanan)
Mr Zelaya said he was "accused of the crimes of money laundering and fraud in the Pandora II case".
Dozens of Honduran politicians were implicated in the so-called Pandora case, in which Honduran prosecutors alleged government funds were diverted to political parties, including Hernández's 2013 presidential campaign.
Mr Zelaya included a photo of the two-year-old order signed by a Supreme Court magistrate for alleged fraud and money laundering charges.
The order says that it must be executed "in the case that the accused is freed by United States authorities".
A lawyer for Hernández, Renato Stabile, said in an email that, "This is obviously a strictly political move on behalf of the defeated Libre party to try to intimidate President Hernández as they are being kicked out of power in Honduras".
"It is shameful and a desperate piece of political theatre and these charges are completely baseless," the email said.
Mr Zelaya said after Mr Trump announced his intention to pardon Hernández that his office would have to take action to end impunity.
Hernández's wife said after his release that the former president was in an undisclosed location in order to ensure his safety.
Honduras awaits election results
The drama comes while Honduras waits to find out who its next president will be.
Mr Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura, a former Tegucigalpa mayor from Hernández's conservative National Party.
Donald Trump said he believed Juan Orlando Hernandez had been unfairly treated by prosecutors. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)
Mr Asfura was leading Salvador Nasralla — also a conservative from the Liberal Party — by barely a percentage point as the vote count slowly advanced.
An Asfura victory could potentially smooth the way for Hernández's eventual return to Honduras.
Mr Nasralla has made fighting corruption the centrepiece of his campaign and has said Hernández stole the 2017 election from him in a vote that was full of irregularities.
Mr Trump's preferred candidate is Nasry Asfura, a former mayor from Hernández's conservative National Party. (AP: Moises Castillo)
Hernández always denied any wrongdoing while in office and insisted he was among the strongest anti-drug allies of the United States.
Mr Trump had announced his intention to pardon Hernández just days before Honduras' national elections, throwing a new element into a close contest.
While some Hondurans remain nostalgic for Hernández's two terms in office, many were shocked that a man convicted of drug trafficking in a closely watched trial could suddenly be released early in his sentence.
Mr Trump said Hondurans had requested the pardon for Hernández and that after looking at his case he decided Hernández had been unfairly treated by prosecutors.
AP
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