Honduras high court allows US extradition of former president News
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Honduras high court allows US extradition of former president

The Supreme Court of Honduras Monday approved the extradition of former president Juan Orlando Hernández to the US, where he is facing charges of drug trafficking and firearms possession.

Hernández sought to appeal a March 16 decision by a Honduran judge granting his extradition, but the Supreme Court upheld the ruling. The justices unanimously voted to extradite him on the drug trafficking charge, while a majority of the justices voted to extradite him on the firearms charge. He will remain in custody until Honduran authorities can coordinate with the US to extradite him.

Hernández is a longtime politician who served as President of the National Congress from 2010 to 2014 and then as president of the country from 2014 until January 2022. Around the time he was stepping down, federal prosecutors alleged that Hernández had helped deliver thousands of kilos of cocaine into the US in exchange for bribes. About a month later, he was arrested at his home at the request of the US government.

The former president’s brother, Tony Hernández, is currently serving a life sentence in US prison for his involvement with drug trafficking. US authorities believe the former president was a co-conspirator in those operations, using the drug money to fund his political campaigns. While Hernández has denied the allegations, Last month, the US added him to its Corrupt and Undemocratic Actors list last month based on these allegations.

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