Honduras issues arrest warrant for ex-president Hernandez after US pardon

The arrest warrant for the country’s former president comes amid a closely-fought election.Published On 9 Dec 2025Honduras’s top prosecutor has issued an international arrest warrant for former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, intensifying legal and political turmoil just days after the ex-leader walked free from a United States prison.Attorney General Johel Antonio Zelaya announced the move on Monday in a post on X, saying he instructed the Agencia Técnica de Investigación Criminal, the main investigative body of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and urged Interpol “to execute the international arrest warrant against former President Juan Orlando Hernández”. Hemos sido lacerados por los tentáculos de la corrupción y por las redes criminales que han marcado profundamente la vida de nuestro país. Es por ello que en el marco del Día Internacional Contra la Corrupción que se conmemora mañana 9 de diciembre, informo al pueblo hondureño… pic.twitter.com/8V4cpyrKq2 — Johel Antonio Zelaya Alvarez (@jaza_hn) December 8, 2025 Zelaya’s announcement comes as Hernandez was released from a 45-year prison sentence in the US after President Donald Trump pardoned him.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Acting US Attorney Alina Habba resigns New Jersey post amid controversylist 2 of 4Waymo runs into safety concerns and competition as it expands in the USlist 3 of 4US tariffs ruin education dreams for children in India’s diamond hublist 4 of 4Ukraine’s allies say efforts to end Russia’s war at ‘critical moment’end of listHernandez’s wife, who insists he is innocent, said he will not return to Honduras immediately due to safety concerns and that he is currently in a “safe place” in the US.Hernandez was extradited to the US in 2022, where New York prosecutors had accused him of three drug- and weapons-related offences and alleged he used his presidency to transform Honduras into a “narco-state”.US prosecutors later secured a conviction, saying Hernandez played a central role in moving cocaine through Honduras and onward to the United States. He was handed a 45-year prison sentence on the back of “one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies in the world”, according to prosecutors.