This Monday, August 3, a court prohibited former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández from leaving the country and rejected the Prosecutor's request for arrest in a case of alleged money laundering and fraud. The initial hearing was set for August 12 and the process will be held in an ordinary court. Hernández returned to Honduras on July 26 after the pardon granted by Donald Trump in the United States, where he had been convicted of drug trafficking.
First modification: 08/04/2026 - 00:56Last modification: 08/04/2026 - 04:50
The Justice of Honduras resolved this Monday, August 3, that former President Juan Orlando Hernández face in freedom the case of money laundering and fraud that he is accused of and that he do so before an ordinary court and not before the Supreme Court, as was initially proposed.
In a hearing, the Criminal Court for Organized Crime, Environment and Corruption issued precautionary measures against Hernández, including a ban on leaving the country, but denied the Prosecutor's Office's request to provisionally detain him due to "risk of flight."
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The former president will also be under the care and surveillance of his defense team, who must present a weekly report on his situation, and will have to provide sworn bail, that is, a sworn promise to submit to the process.
Read alsoJuan Orlando Hernández is received by supporters after his return to Honduras
The case will be heard in a regular court.
That same court was in charge of the case after this Monday, August 3, the appeal presented on Friday by the defense, which sought to maintain the file in the Supreme Court, was declared "without merit." The magistrate who had it originally had declared himself without jurisdiction to assume it.
The court set the initial hearing for August 12 at 09:00 local time (15:00 GMT). It is expected that that day it will be determined whether the former president will be tried for the crimes charged to him by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor's Office).
Hernández returned to Honduras on July 26. He had been extradited in 2022 to the United States, where in 2024 he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for crimes linked to drug trafficking. But, on December 1, 2025, he was pardoned by US President Donald Trump. This pardon only applies to US federal cases and has no effect on the process opened in Honduras.
Read alsoWhat does the return of former president Juan Orlando Hernández mean for Honduras?
Dozens of followers gathered in front of the Supreme Court of Justice to express their support. The hearing was held there, in the Sixth Chamber of the Sentencing Court, enabled by the space limitations of the Organized Crime Court.
The Prosecutor's Office accuses Hernández, 57, of fraud and money laundering in a case opened in 2023 for the alleged diversion of some $10.8 million to two foundations between 2010 and 2013, when he presided over the National Congress. These funds would have been used to finance his 2013 election campaign.
The file also includes former deputies, businessmen and individuals, in addition to former president Porfirio Lobo (2010-2014), who obtained a definitive dismissal.
Read alsoJuan Orlando Hernández, the former president pardoned by Trump, is released
With EFE
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