 "Honduras former President Juan Orlando Hernandez is escorted by authorities as he walks towards a plane of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for his extradition to the United States, to face a trial on drug trafficking and arms possession charges, at the Hernan Acosta Mejia Air Force base in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on April 21, 2022. Reuters File")
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was freed from a US prison on Monday, where he had been serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking and firearms offenses, according to a Reuters report, citing the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
His wife, Ana García, announced on social media that Hernández’s release came after he was granted a pardon by US President Donald Trump.
“After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,” Reuters quoted Garcia as saying.
The release came days after a presidential election in Honduras, in which Trump has backed presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party, who is facing off with liberal Salvador Nasralla.
The latest vote count showed both candidates practically tied holding just under 40% of the vote.
Asfura’s party forged a close partnership with Washington under Hernandez, who governed from 2014 to 2022 and was arrested shortly after leaving office.
Hernandez was sentenced in June last year and called his conviction wrongful.
With inputs from agencies