Berliner Boersenzeitung - Honduran ex-president to remain in custody as US seeks extradition

EUR -
AED 3.996506
AFN 72.900955
ALL 98.308217
AMD 421.18485
ANG 1.962247
AOA 992.329453
ARS 1080.181434
AUD 1.648531
AWG 1.958544
AZN 1.857939
BAM 1.951173
BBD 2.198287
BDT 130.111476
BGN 1.956591
BHD 0.410043
BIF 3149.991364
BMD 1.08808
BND 1.432642
BOB 7.540328
BRL 6.302264
BSD 1.088718
BTN 91.571688
BWP 14.498022
BYN 3.563249
BYR 21326.366401
BZD 2.194656
CAD 1.511963
CDF 3094.499133
CHF 0.940172
CLF 0.037633
CLP 1038.41996
CNY 7.73222
CNH 7.746362
COP 4803.87284
CRC 558.775019
CUC 1.08808
CUP 28.834118
CVE 110.603516
CZK 25.336699
DJF 193.3737
DKK 7.458603
DOP 65.774638
DZD 144.733286
EGP 53.392866
ERN 16.321199
ETB 131.77079
FJD 2.476416
FKP 0.832565
GBP 0.839508
GEL 2.975906
GGP 0.832565
GHS 17.800855
GIP 0.832565
GMD 77.8544
GNF 9390.129613
GTQ 8.412053
GYD 227.985681
HKD 8.458929
HNL 27.278588
HRK 7.495815
HTG 143.28025
HUF 408.070771
IDR 17161.033261
ILS 4.081584
IMP 0.832565
INR 91.532868
IQD 1425.384693
IRR 45813.605196
ISK 148.925795
JEP 0.832565
JMD 172.032073
JOD 0.771557
JPY 165.731956
KES 140.362613
KGS 93.357036
KHR 4433.92573
KMF 492.35874
KPW 979.271681
KRW 1500.402352
KWD 0.333431
KYD 0.907373
KZT 532.008489
LAK 23872.473319
LBP 97491.960445
LKR 319.203098
LRD 208.748593
LSL 19.05177
LTL 3.212817
LVL 0.658168
LYD 5.233375
MAD 10.714325
MDL 19.43545
MGA 5021.488734
MKD 61.626889
MMK 3534.041131
MNT 3697.295593
MOP 8.716771
MRU 43.523418
MUR 50.084443
MVR 16.759449
MWK 1888.364769
MXN 21.88825
MYR 4.748922
MZN 69.534196
NAD 19.052337
NGN 1788.575322
NIO 40.014105
NOK 11.970859
NPR 146.514621
NZD 1.818666
OMR 0.418924
PAB 1.088848
PEN 4.100157
PGK 4.362659
PHP 63.604756
PKR 302.322999
PLN 4.35896
PYG 8574.667539
QAR 3.961265
RON 4.975758
RSD 117.039324
RUB 107.716482
RWF 1484.141009
SAR 4.086665
SBD 9.037832
SCR 14.742944
SDG 654.466525
SEK 11.670305
SGD 1.435493
SHP 0.832565
SLE 24.726642
SLL 22816.488369
SOS 621.293686
SRD 37.980509
STD 22521.057486
SVC 9.526411
SYP 2733.833729
SZL 19.052206
THB 36.642724
TJS 11.595724
TMT 3.819161
TND 3.371955
TOP 2.548391
TRY 37.375003
TTD 7.380702
TWD 34.80169
TZS 2933.325215
UAH 45.127108
UGX 3984.551734
USD 1.08808
UYU 45.362435
UZS 13943.744408
VEF 3941626.666042
VES 46.573125
VND 27577.385532
VUV 129.179066
WST 3.047912
XAF 654.423259
XAG 0.032257
XAU 0.0004
XCD 2.94059
XDR 0.817883
XOF 653.386429
XPF 119.331742
YER 271.856803
ZAR 19.061414
ZMK 9794.022753
ZMW 29.20655
ZWL 350.36129
  • RBGPF

    66.4100

    66.41

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    0.0100

    7.11

    +0.14%

  • SCS

    0.1100

    12.25

    +0.9%

  • CMSC

    0.1100

    24.64

    +0.45%

  • RELX

    -0.0200

    47.06

    -0.04%

  • CMSD

    0.1103

    24.92

    +0.44%

  • GSK

    0.0900

    36.97

    +0.24%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    64.45

    +0.29%

  • RIO

    -0.3200

    65.01

    -0.49%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    35.11

    +0.11%

  • BCC

    0.0500

    134.26

    +0.04%

  • VOD

    -0.0300

    9.32

    -0.32%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    13.1

    +0.38%

  • BCE

    -2.9800

    29.12

    -10.23%

  • AZN

    0.0100

    71.43

    +0.01%

  • BP

    0.5000

    29.73

    +1.68%

Honduran ex-president to remain in custody as US seeks extradition
Honduran ex-president to remain in custody as US seeks extradition

Honduran ex-president to remain in custody as US seeks extradition

Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernandez, wanted on drug trafficking charges in the United States, will remain in prison for at least a month as the extradition case against him proceeds, a judge in Tegucigalpa ruled Wednesday.

Text size:

The judge decided to keep Hernandez in preventative detention "in order to guarantee his presence" at the second hearing in the case next month, Supreme Court spokesman Melvin Duarte said.

Hernandez, who was still in office just three weeks ago, was brought to court for his first hearing in the case in a convoy that included armored vehicles and a helicopter from the police station where he had spent the night.

Outside the court building, supporters from his rightwing National Party (NP) shouted, "He is not alone!" while backers of the leftist Libre party that recently ousted the NP from power celebrated Hernandez's fall from grace.

The 53-year-old is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of drugs mainly from Colombia and Venezuela to the United States via Honduras from 2004 until as recently as this year.

In turn, he allegedly received "millions of dollars in bribes... from multiple narcotrafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico and other places," according to a document from the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa.

The judge -- whose name authorities are withholding for his own protection -- read Hernandez the charges in court Wednesday before ruling the former president will remain in preventative detention until the case's next hearing on March 16.

Previous extradition requests had taken no more than four months to adjudicate, he added.

Hernandez had surrendered to police Tuesday, hours after the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

- 'Juancho goes to New York' -

In power for eight years until January 27, when leftist Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras's first woman president, Hernandez was taken from his home in the capital Tegucigalpa by Honduran police acting in coordination with American agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The rightwing politician -- who served two successive terms clouded by corruption claims -- offered no resistance, and allowed officers to cuff his hands and feet and fit him out in a bullet-proof vest.

Dozens of people with banners celebrated outside Hernandez's home, while in other cities, people took to the streets with loudspeakers singing, "Juancho goes to New York," using a nickname.

The US Embassy document said Hernandez is accused of shielding drug traffickers from investigation, arrest and extradition, and providing them with classified information about ongoing investigations.

He allegedly made members of the police and military protect drug shipments in Honduras and "allowed brutal acts of violence to be committed without consequence."

Hernandez is also accused of accepting a million dollars derived from the activities of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in exchange for protecting his Sinaloa cartel's activities in Honduras.

- 'Defend myself' -

Hernandez vowed Tuesday to cooperate with domestic authorities, saying in an audio message on Twitter he was ready to appear in court and "defend myself."

Though Hernandez had portrayed himself as an ally of the US war on drugs during his tenure, traffickers caught in the United States claimed to have paid bribes to the president's inner circle.

Alleged associate Geovanny Fuentes Ramirez was sentenced in the United States last week to life in prison and a fine of $151.7 million for smuggling tons of cocaine into the country -- with Hernandez's aid, according to prosecutors.

Hernandez's brother, former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez, was given a life sentence in the United States in March 2021 for drug trafficking.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "according to multiple, credible media reports," Hernandez "has engaged in significant corruption by committing or facilitating acts of corruption and narco-trafficking and using the proceeds of illicit activity to facilitate political campaigns."

Hernandez denies the claims, which he said were part of a revenge plot by traffickers that his government had captured or extradited to the United States.

- 'Bankrupt' state -

His lawyer, Hermes Ramirez, insisted Monday that Hernandez enjoyed immunity from prosecution as a member of the Guatemala-based Central American Parliament, Parlacen, which he joined hours after leaving office.

His reelection in 2017 was met with widespread protests against an alleged fraudulent campaign in the poverty- and violence-ridden country.

According to the embassy document, drug money financed both Hernandez's election in 2013 and his reelection.

(G.Gruner--BBZ)