Ousted Honduran Leader Faces Charges if he Returns

Will Weissert and John Rice
AP
July 25, 2009

If ousted President Manuel Zelaya succeeds in returning to Honduras, the government that deposed him vows it will be as a prisoner.

Zelaya still faces the same arrest order that prompted soldiers to detain him in a June 28 coup. That order, sought by the independent attorney general and endorsed by the Supreme Court, charged Zelaya with four constitutional crimes, including treason, that carry combined penalties of up to 43 years in prison.

The embattled interim government — facing international condemnation for removing Zelaya in a coup — has since scrambled to find evidence of other crimes to justify his overthrow. The accusations, which vary from embezzlement to drug-running, so far have produced no public charges and seem to change from day to day.

"They are floating a lot of accusations, just throwing a lot of stuff at the wall to see what sticks to justify what happened," said Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas in New York.

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