Just asking for trouble

If one does consider doing something that just asks for trouble, it is pretty much incumbent upon those who are considered one's friends to speak up while the matter is still merely under consideration.

Here at CompHyp, I've been rather open in my support for the rule of law in Honduras. Supposedly, that makes me a friend. This is me, speaking up.

(Honduran President Porfirio) Lobo says he is working with prosecutors to find a way for (ousted President Manuel) Zelaya to return to the Central American country to face charges - but without taking him into police custody. Zelaya is accused of fraud, usurping powers and falsifying documents.

This is just begging for trouble.

The ALBA nations have been laying the groundwork for a campaign of internal dissent (and likely armed insurgency) in support of M. Zelaya for months now. The Ortega regime in Nicaragua hasn't even been particularly subtle about doing so.

Inviting M. Zelaya back into Honduras and *not* detaining him almost certainly will leave him free to figurehead another anti-government campaign.

On the face of it, this is just a bad idea.

Maybe, *maybe*, if enough conditions on his liberty of action can be put in place and enforced, then the promise of not remanding him directly into custody for the duration of a trial might be a way to encourage a voluntary return and surrender to justice... but that's probably a plan too clever by a half.

This is one of those rare cases where a trial-in-absentia (Honduras being a Civil Law jurisdiction) might be better than the proposed alternative.