Honduran court drops case against ex-President Hernandez after Trump pardon

What the report says

A Honduran court has dropped fraud and money-laundering charges against former President Juan Orlando Hernandez, according to Al Jazeera, ending one of the remaining domestic cases against him after his return to Honduras in July. The decision came Tuesday after Hernandez had been pardoned in the United States in December 2025 for a separate drug-trafficking conviction.

Al Jazeera reported that the case was tied to the Pandora corruption scandal, which involved allegations that senior officials diverted public money between 2010 and 2013 to support political campaigns. Prosecutors had said Hernandez received part of the funds, while the judiciary later said the evidence did not show he took part in the alleged wrongdoing. Hernandez, who led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, welcomed the ruling and described the case as politically motivated.

The article places the ruling in the broader context of Hernandez’s long legal troubles. He was extradited to the United States in 2022, convicted there in 2024, and sentenced to 45 years in prison on drug-trafficking charges. His pardon by U.S. President Donald Trump, and the later dropping of the Honduran case, has renewed scrutiny over the relationship between politics, justice, and anti-corruption efforts in Honduras. The case is also notable because other figures linked to the Pandora scandal have had charges dismissed as well.