Lobo Sosa announced this decree to the international community today to display Honduras’ support for peace, unity, reconciliation, and forgiveness.

The amnesty decree passed allegedly allows Zelaya to leave the country and be entertained as a guest of the Dominican Republic.

The amnesty bill, which the previous Congress would not vote on, was introduced by the representative of Santa Barbara, a Nationalist, Mario Alonso Perez. The introduction of the bill immediately generated a long debate, in which members of the new Congress carefully analyzed the issues outlined before adopting it.

The Congress president, Juan Hernandez, adjourned the meeting at about 4:00 p.m. in order to give the Opinion Commission an opportunity to consider the discussions that took place. The Committee presented their opinion late last night. The Opinion Committee was composed of congresspersons Mario Segura, Celin Discua, Erick Rodriguez, Nelly Jerez, Hector Guillen and Teresa Chavez.

It was assumed that amnesty would be approved by the majority National Party (consisting of 71 congresspeople), which constitutes a simple majority (65) required for its passage, plus four of the five members of the Christian Democrats and Liberals.

The Pinu voted against amnesty, making the point they thought it was better to be put before the truth commission established in the Tegucigalpa / San Jose Agreement, and then analyze whether or not to grant amnesty. German Leitzelar clarified that this position does not mean that they were against the amnesty as such.

The amnesty covers those who committed, or attempted to commit, political offenses in connection with treason against the form of government, terrorism and sedition, according to Article 1 of the approved opinion.

They also receive forgiveness for common crimes, namely, abuse of power, disobedience, abuse of authority and violation of the duties of officials. It covers crimes committed between January 1, 2008 and January 27, 2010.

The alleged crime of the expatriation of Zelaya by the military, however, was not included in the amnesty.

The Amnesty Decree states: “All actions that constitute crimes related to corruption and misappropriation of public funds, illicit enrichment, bribery and other offenses under the criminal law, such as crimes against humanity and violation of human rights do not fall under this decree.”

The Amnesty Decree is not official until it has been published in the Gazette, the national newspaper for legal publications, which could take ten days or more.