US asks Honduras to extradite ex-President Hernandez
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Hundreds of Honduran police officers encircled former President Juan Orlando Hernandez's home on Monday after the US requested that he be arrested and extradited over unspecified charges.
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US asks Honduras to extradite ex-President Hernandez.
Officials announced Monday that the US has urged Honduras to arrest former President Juan Orlando Hernandez in preparation for his potential extradition to the US over unspecified charges.
On Monday night, National Police and soldiers encircled Hernandez's neighborhood.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Honduras initially wrote on Twitter that it had informed the country's Supreme Court of Justice that the US Embassy had formally demanded the arrest of a Honduran lawmaker for extradition purposes.
The lawmaker was not named by the Ministry. However, Salvador Nasralla, Honduras' current Vice- President, verified to AP that Hernandez is named in the request.
Later, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice convened an emergency session of the full court for Tuesday morning to select a judge to hear the US extradition request.
Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for the US Department of State, said, "The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment."
Was Herandez unfairly accused?
The lawmaker was first identified as Hernandez by CNN en Espaol, which published a message from the Ministry to the court naming Hernandez.
Hernandez's lawyer, Hermes Ramrez, accused authorities of treating the former President unfairly, adding that Hernandez was inside the Tegucigalpa home.
“At this time the secretary of security is violating the rule of law by wanting to execute an arrest order violating the procedure that is established by law,” the lawyer told local media. “We leave clear the abuse that my client ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández is the subject of.”
Hernandez had shared photos of himself playing with his dogs over the weekend in an apparent attempt to dispel suspicions that he had departed the country.
With President Xiomara Castro's inauguration on Jan. 27, Hernandez stepped down. He was sworn in as Honduras' delegate to the Central American Parliament on the same day.
Ramrez claimed Monday night that Hernandez was immune from prosecution because of his position in the regional legislature and that he was entitled to a presumption of innocence.
Hondurans' hope for justice had rested for years with US federal prosecutors in New York, where a spate of disclosures against Hernandez was closely followed back home, due to a weak and co-opted Honduran legal system.
Because US prosecutors in New York continually accused him in his brother's 2019 drug trafficking trial, arguing that his political rise was driven by drug earnings, speculation has circulated for months over whether Hernandez would be indicted after he was no longer president. Hernandez categorically denied any involvement in such actions.
