Pardoned by Trump, ex-president Hernandez returns to Honduras
Former leader thanks the US president and hints at political comeback as local fraud case looms
Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez – who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking until President Donald Trump pardoned him last year – returned to his home country on Sunday.
After touching down in a private plane near the capital, Tegucigalpa, he travelled to a rally in the town of Comayagua.
Speaking at a farm in front of hundreds of supporters, Hernandez thanked Trump for the pardon.
“The most well-informed president in the world said: ‘I reviewed it – my team and I reviewed it in detail – and a tremendous injustice has been committed here; it is a witch hunt, it is the use of the justice system as a political weapon’,” Hernandez said.
He is due to appear in court on August 3 to face fraud and money-laundering charges, which he denies, claiming to be the continued victim of “persecution”.
He is accused of diverting US$2 million in public funds to finance his first presidential campaign.