The Honduran Justice has decided this Tuesday to postpone until next August 24 the hearing related to the alleged fraud and money laundering attributed to former president Juan Orlando Hernández (2014-2022), who was pardoned in the United States from a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.
The spokesperson for the Judiciary, Carlos Silva, has explained to the media that the rescheduling is adopted "at the request of the Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office, which want the same study time" for the evidence presented in the session by Hernández's defense.
According to Silva, the lawyers of the former president have incorporated "a total of 36 pieces of evidence, 34 documents, an expert opinion, and a witness that they want to present."
The defense has claimed the "absolute nullity" of the procedure, arguing that "the investigations date back approximately ten years, while Hernández was in the country (Honduras)" while "the criminal action was presented when he was in the United States causing a condition of defenselessness," the judicial spokesperson has indicated.
Hernández himself, 57 years old, has reaffirmed the request for "definitive dismissal" through his social networks, insisting that "by law, this case must be dismissed" and maintaining that it is "a political persecution" against him.
"Justice should never again be used as a political weapon. This case is a political persecution against me, and we will demonstrate this at every stage. Our only goal is for truth and justice to prevail," he has stated, emphasizing that he has not committed "any of the crimes" he is accused of and that "there is no solid evidence to support" the accusations made by the Prosecutor's Office.
The former head of state, who remains at liberty but is prohibited from leaving Honduras, is under investigation in the Pandora II case for the alleged diversion of more than 62 million lempiras (about two million euros) intended for his 2013 electoral campaign, when he first ran for the presidency.
Hernández returned to Honduras on July 26, after more than four years outside the country since his extradition to the United States, where he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking and later pardoned at the end of last year by the U.S. president, Donald Trump.