Prosecutor Johel Zelaya describes accusation of political persecution as a ‘trite refrain’

The Attorney General of Honduras, Johel Zelaya, described as “hackneyed talk” the accusations by certain sectors that accuse the corruption investigations being carried out by the Public Ministry (MP) of political persecution against the National Party.

Zelaya said he could not yet name those involved in new corruption investigations, but “what can be assured is that those involved must pay this country for what they have done.”

He reiterated that the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which last October announced that it would resume the investigations of the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH), which include members of the National Party, “are not political persecution as they repeat, a trite poem.”

“And I tell the Honduran people: history, time, and soon they will know that there is no political persecution against anyone (…) and the people will know that,” he declared to the media.

It should be recalled that on October 21, together with the head of the Specialized Fiscal Unit Against Corruption Networks (Uferco), Luis Javier Santos, Zelaya presented a corruption case involving presidential candidate Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura, accused of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering.

In this context, Zelaya said that if the accusations of political persecution continue , he will again use the media to inform the people of other cases of corruption.

MP will not give in to pressure

He also said that “I will not give in to any pressure, you can be completely assured that I will not give in to any pressure of any kind, as you hear, we have a clear conscience, the Honduran people should know that I am fighting for justice. You do not know what you did to this country, if you had access to see the investigations, you would get a different impression,” said Zelaya.

The head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that “they stole the country,” referring to the corrupt, so that in “the following requests they will show that it is not political persecution.”

He also said that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office cannot refer to investigations that have not yet been brought to court because we do not personalize, they have their attorneys, they will be able to give some kind of response, which by the way is greatly respected by those who practice the profession privately.”

The prosecutor stressed the transparency of the process, assuring that “the people are aware that we are fighting against those who have made fun of them.”

Zelaya did not specify how many corruption cases are still pending, but said that more prosecutorial requests will arrive.

“We are not pursuing political figures, we are pursuing crime wherever it may be found and we are going to do it without hatred, without personal issues, we are going to do it objectively and the people will know that we are working in a way that is not political persecution,” he added.

Finally, he reiterated his commitment to justice and emphasized that there will be no political persecution under his mandate.

“I want to tell the Honduran people from the bottom of my heart: we will never persecute anyone politically. That is a thing of the past. It is not possible for us to persecute a political party. That is unheard of,” he concluded.