Juan Orlando Hernandez back in Honduras after Trump pardon

Juan Orlando Hernandez returned to Honduras on Sunday after a Juan Orlando Hernandez pardon from President Donald Trump erased his 45-year US prison sentence for drug trafficking, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. His arrival puts the former president back in a country where he still faces fraud and money-laundering charges.

Hernandez landed at Palmerola International Airport, where relatives and dozens of supporters from his National Party met him, according to Reuters and AP. The return came four years after Honduras extradited him to the United States.

Trump issued the pardon in December, saying Hernandez had not been given a fair trial and accusing the administration of former President Joe Biden of setting him up, the news agencies reported. Hernandez had previously been sentenced in the US to 45 years in prison on drug-trafficking charges.

What charges does Juan Orlando Hernandez face in Honduras?

Hernandez is due in Honduran court on August 3 on fraud and money-laundering charges, according to Reuters and AP. Those charges are separate from the US drug case that ended with Trump’s pardon.

Honduran authorities did not detain him when he arrived because an arrest warrant had been suspended in June, the agencies reported. That decision has drawn concern from activists who doubt the case will produce accountability.

Joaquin Mejia, a lawyer and researcher with the human rights group Reflection, Research and Communication Team, told Reuters and AP that the suspension appeared to be an opening move. He said Hernandez could receive measures short of imprisonment “to keep up appearances” and ultimately avoid punishment.

Mejia also said many Hondurans are angry but afraid to speak publicly. “We’re talking about the boss of all drug bosses,” he said, according to the agencies.

How did Hernandez respond to his return?

Earlier this month, Hernandez wrote on social media that he felt strong emotion at the prospect of going home and was counting the days until he could see his family, Reuters and AP reported. He also described his time in prison as extremely difficult and said he would not wish it on anyone.

Hernandez served as Honduras’s president from 2014 to 2022. Reuters and AP noted that he had once been treated by Washington as an ally in US anti-drug efforts.

At his trial in New York, a US prosecutor said Hernandez told drug dealers in a meeting that they would “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to the agencies. Hernandez’s US conviction is no longer keeping him imprisoned because of Trump’s pardon.

Hernandez was also named in a Pandora Papers corruption investigation that accused him and other senior officials of diverting nearly $11 million in public funds to political campaigns between 2010 and 2013, Reuters and AP reported. Some of the money was allegedly used for Hernandez’s first presidential campaign.

Former President Porfirio Lobo and former Finance Minister Wilfredo Cerrato were implicated in the same investigation, but the charges against them were dismissed, according to Reuters and AP.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.