Honduran court dismisses corruption case against ex‑President Hernández after U.S. pardon

A Honduran court has dismissed charges against former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who returned to the country in July following a presidential pardon in the United States for a drug‑trafficking conviction.

Hernández faced accusations of fraud and money‑laundering tied to a corruption scheme that allegedly operated from 2010 to 2013, before his tenure as president.

Judiciary spokesperson Carlos Silva said on Tuesday that Hernández was not responsible for budgetary decisions at the time of the alleged crimes. Hernández, a leading figure of the right‑wing National Party, called the ruling a vindication of his claims of political persecution.

“This chapter of political persecution has now ended,” Hernández said after the decision, adding that the case “had no basis” and was driven by political motives.

He warned that those who orchestrated the case sought to banish him from Honduras and leave his family destitute. Known by his initials JOH, Hernández served as president from 2014 to 2022.

During his term, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigations alleged he abused his office to aid drug traffickers, accepted bribes, and helped move narcotics, even as he was considered an ally in the U.S.–backed war on drugs.

The U.S. Department of Justice described him as the “center of one of the largest and most violent drug‑trafficking conspiracies in the world.” He was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison, prompting celebrations in Honduras and protests outside the New York courtroom.

When former U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, he sought to bolster right‑wing leaders across Latin America. Ahead of Honduras’s November 2025 general election, Trump pledged a pardon for Hernández and threatened to withhold aid.

Trump followed through on December 2, granting the pardon and calling Hernández’s prior treatment “harsh and unfair.” The presidential race, contested between centrist Salvador Nasralla and Hernández’s National Party candidate Nasry Asfura, was ultimately won by Asfura.

Despite the U.S. pardon, Hernández still confronted a domestic corruption case known as the Pandora scandal. Prosecutors alleged that senior officials, including Hernández, diverted roughly $10.8 million in public funds for political campaigns between 2010 and 2013, with Hernández receiving about $2.3 million.

A domestic arrest warrant was suspended, allowing Hernández to return to Honduras in July. Honduras’s judiciary later stated that the evidence did not establish his participation in the alleged events, and other Pandora defendants, such as former President Porfirio Lobo and ex‑Finance Minister Wilfredo Cerrato, have also seen charges dropped.

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