By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer for Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former Honduran president who is facing U.S. drugs and weapons charges, on Tuesday accused the Central American country’s current government of setting up obstacles to his defense.
In a hearing on Hernandez’s case in Manhattan federal court, defense lawyer Raymond Colon said individuals in Honduras he was hoping to speak with were “being intimidated,” without providing evidence.
Colon said he had identified a Honduran military officer who was willing to testify at trial on a “very important” issue that would cast doubt on the prosecution’s version of events.
But he said that individual, whom he did not identify, later told a family member he needed approval from a judge in Honduras before continuing to speak with Colon.
“That certainly creates a problem for us in terms of putting on an effective defense,” Colon said.
Gerardo Torres, Honduras’ deputy foreign minister, denied Colon’s claims.
“I don’t know where that accusation against the government of Honduras comes from,” Torres told Reuters. “The Honduran state and government are interested in a swift conclusion of the trial.”
Elinor Tarlow, a prosecutor, said she had not been aware of the problem before Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel, who oversees the case, instructed both sides to confer before he took any action.
Hernandez, a former U.S. ally who led Honduras from 2014 until January 2022, was extradited to the United States last April.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say he received millions of dollars from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting them from arrest.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty and long portrayed himself as a fierce opponent of drug cartels, arguing traffickers have implicated him in court as part of an effort to lessen their own sentences.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro, a leftist who replaced Hernandez last year after beating a candidate from his right-leaning National Party, has pledged to tackle corruption.
Castel on Tuesday also rescheduled Hernandez’s trial for Sept. 18, 2023. It had been set for April 24.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Editing by Josie Kao)
