Juan Orlando Hernandez freed after Trump’s ‘full and complete’ pardon

Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year condemnation for cause conspiracy, received ‘full and unconditional pardon’, lawyer says.

Authorities successful the United States person released erstwhile Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a lengthy situation condemnation for cause trafficking, aft US President Donald Trump pardoned him.

Hernandez’s lawyer, Renato Stabile, confirmed that the erstwhile Honduran president was freed connected Tuesday, a time aft being pardoned.

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“President Trump has issued a afloat and unconditional pardon, signed, Dec 1, 2025. President Hernandez was released from situation aboriginal this morning,” Stabile told Al Jazeera successful an email.

A national situation database showed that Hernandez was released from a detention centre successful West Virginia aft spending much than 3 years in US jail.

Last year, Hernandez was sentenced to 45 years for engagement successful a strategy to export cocaine successful the US, which prosecutors described arsenic “one of the largest and astir convulsive cause trafficking conspiracies successful the world”.

Trump announced plans to pardon the erstwhile Honduran president past week arsenic helium called for the radical successful the Central American state to backmost right-wing campaigner Nasry “Tito” Asfura, a subordinate of Hernandez’s party.

“I volition beryllium granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to galore radical that I greatly respect, treated precise harshly and unfairly,” Trump wrote successful a societal media station connected Tuesday.

“This cannot beryllium allowed to happen, particularly now, aft Tito Asfura wins the Election, erstwhile Honduras volition beryllium connected its mode to Great Political and Financial Success.”

Hernandez was convicted of accepting millions of dollars successful bribes from convulsive drug-trafficking organisations implicit 18 years, which helium utilized to substance his emergence successful politics.

“During his governmental career, Hernandez abused his almighty positions and authorization successful Honduras to facilitate the importation of implicit 400 tons of cocaine into the US,” the US Justice Department said aft helium was sentenced past year.

“Hernandez’s co-conspirators were equipped with instrumentality guns and destructive devices, including AK-47s, AR-15s, and grenade launchers, which they utilized to support their monolithic cocaine loads arsenic they transited crossed Honduras connected their mode to the United States, support the wealth they made from the eventual merchantability of this cocaine, and defender their drug-trafficking territory from rivals.”

During his trial, Hernandez denied taking bribes from cause dealers, arguing that helium cracked down connected the narcotics commercialized and citing his administration’s practice with the US military.

Trump’s pardon of Hernandez comes astatine a clip erstwhile his medication is carrying retired deadly aerial strikes against boats successful the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean that it says are carrying drugs – a run that critics accidental violates home and planetary law.

Trump has besides been issuing threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro aft accusing him without grounds of starring a cause cartel that the US labelled arsenic a “terrorist” group.

Washington has besides been ramping up its subject beingness successful the Caribbean successful what it calls an anti-drug trafficking operation, which raised speculations astir a imaginable warfare to topple Maduro.

Pardoning Hernandez has intensified disapproval of the Trump administration’s attack to Latin America.

“As President, Juan Orlando Hernandez personally helped the Sinaloa Cartel and El Chapo postulation deadly drugs into the United States. Drugs that killed Americans,” Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto said successful a societal media station connected Monday.

“But alternatively of lasting with instrumentality enforcement who brought Hernandez to justice, Trump is letting this transgression spell free.”

In Honduras, an predetermination took spot connected Sunday, but the contention is inactive too adjacent to call, with sports writer Salvador Nasralla starring against Asfura by lone hundreds of votes.

Trump – who continues to falsely assertion that his 2020 predetermination nonaccomplishment to erstwhile US President Joe Biden was owed to wide fraud – is already casting uncertainty implicit the result of the ballot successful Honduras.

“Looks similar Honduras is trying to alteration the results of their Presidential Election,” helium wrote connected his Truth Social level connected Monday. “If they do, determination volition beryllium hellhole to pay!”