The former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was extradited to the United States where he is accused of having participated in a gigantic cocaine trafficking, appeared Friday April 22 before a court in New York.
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Read alsoThe ex-president of Honduras falls for drug trafficking
Juan Orlando Hernandez, 53, extradited the day before from Tegucigalpa, was presented in federal court via video link.
He was not asked to plead guilty or not guilty during this brief hearing.
His lawyers did not ask for his release on bail but indicated that they would do so later.
Sudden fall
The judge, Stewart Aaron, has scheduled the preliminary hearing for May 10.
It was on that day that the ex-president, who faces life imprisonment, must say whether he disputes the charges.
The fall was brutal for JOH, as he is called in his country.
No sooner had he ceded power, on January 27, to the new left-wing president Xiomara Castro, than the brand new ex-head of state (2014-2022) found himself chained to the wrists and ankles during his arrest on February 15 in front of the cameras.
According to US prosecutors in charge of the case in New York, Mr. Hernandez is a "
co-instigator
" of the traffic and has made Honduras a "
narco-state
" by implicating the army and the police in the trafficking of drugs to UNITED STATES.
He is also said to have received millions of dollars from various drug trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico and other countries.
In exchange for these bribes, Juan Orlando Hernandez, accused of having participated in the trafficking of 500 tons of cocaine between 2004 and 2022, "
protected drug traffickers from investigations, (avoiding their) arrest and extradition
", assure US authorities.
Juan Orlando Hernandez, who presented himself as the champion of the fight against drug trafficking, was first seen by the United States as an ally in this fight.
Washington was in 2017 one of the first capitals to recognize his re-election when the opposition denounced fraud against the backdrop of demonstrations that left around 30 people dead.
Hernandez claims to be innocent and "
a victim of cartel revenge
."
