Honduras ex-President arrested at US request

(16 Feb 2022) Shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing a bulletproof jacket former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was paraded to the press at the Police Special Forces headquarters on Tuesday. Police arrested Hernández following a request by the United States government for his extradition on drug trafficking and weapons charges. The Supreme Court of Justice designated a judge Tuesday morning to handle the case and hours later the judge signed the order for Hernández’s arrest. The security ministry, which had Hernández’s home surrounded since Monday evening, moved quickly to take him into custody. The arrest came less than three weeks after Hernández left office and followed years of allegations by U.S. prosecutors of his alleged links to drug traffickers. Hernández left office Jan. 27 with the swearing in of President Xiomara Castro and was sworn in as Honduras’ representative to the Central American Parliament the same day. H