Honduras prosecutor seeks charges against military chiefs for handling of Zelaya’s ouster

Honduras prosecutor seeks charges against military

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The chief prosecutor asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to issue arrest warrants charging Honduras’ military commanders with abuse of power for sending President Manuel Zelaya out of the country in his June 28 ouster.

The court will have three days to decide whether to grant the request from prosecutor Luis Alberto Rubi. It would be the first legal action taken against the armed forces since soldiers rousted Zelaya out of his home at gunpoint and forced him aboard a flight to Costa Rica.

The measure could be largely cosmetic. The high court has repeatedly ruled or advised against reinstating Zelaya as president. It has also said he faces charges of treason and abuse of power, in large part for disobeying court orders to drop a plan to hold a referendum on changing the constitution.

Moreover, President-elect Porfirio Lobo, who won the Nov. 29 election to succeed Zelaya, has said he supports granting amnesty both to Zelaya and to all of those involved in the coup.

Zelaya’s critics say he was removed because of his defiance of the court orders against the constitutional referendum. Zelaya says he was ousted because he was trying to bring more equality to this poor Central American nation.

If the Supreme Court agreed to charge the military officers, their case would be heard by one of the court’s 15 magistrates.

Those named by the prosecutor include the head of the armed forces, Gen. Romeo Vasquez, and five other top-ranking military officers, including air force chief Gen. Javier Prince and navy commander Gen. Juan Pablo Rodriguez. The charge carries possible prison terms of three to four years.

“We have not received any legal notification, but we are prepared to defend ourselves in court,” Rodriguez told The Associated Press.

Zelaya took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy since sneaking back into Honduras on Sept. 21.

Also Wednesday, interim President Roberto Micheletti responded harshly to U.S. suggestions that he resign before Lobo takes office Jan 27. Micheletti has been serving as president since Zelaya was deposed.

“The U.S. wants me to withdraw on Jan. 15. Washington should respect the sovereign decisions of our people,” Micheletti said, calling Washington’s diplomacy erratic.

U.S. State Department diplomat Craig Kelly is in Honduras attempting to reunite leaders in the bitterly divided Central American nation.

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy said Kelly’s visit was aimed at “re-establishing the democratic and constitutional order in Honduras and promoting national reconciliation … and the rapid formation of a national unity government and the establishment of a truth commission” to investigate responsibilities in the June 28 coup.

“Kelly stressed the United States’ concern about the deterioration of (Honduras’) economic situation and the importance of normalizing relations with the international community,” the embassy added.

Micheletti’s interim government has said Zelaya faces arrest if he leaves the embassy under any terms other than an asylum arrangement in another country.

The president-elect has hinted he may be more conciliatory than Micheletti. Lobo says he has invited to his inauguration Latin American leaders, including Zelaya’s leftist allies, Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.

Chavez has lobbied for Zelaya’s return to office and urged the international community not to recognize results of the November election won by Lobo.

“If they don’t want to come, oh well,” Lobo said. “But we’ve invited them.”