A HONDURAN judge released 28 out of 29 government officials accused of corruption charges in the Pandora’s Box case on Monday after a two-day hearing.

Judge Lidia Alvarez ruled that all but one of the defendants accused of embezzling nearly $12 million (£9.2m) of public money and diverting it to the ruling National Party election campaign funds could go free.

She said state prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to warrant continued detention, but the accused will face still face charges for fraud, embezzlement and abuse of power which allegedly took place from 2011 to 2013.

A money-laundering law passed in 2015 cannot be applied retrospectively, the judge ruled, meaning that some of the charges were dropped.

The Pandora’s Box case brought charges against 38 government officials following a lengthy investigation by an anti-corruption commission, although the probe was hampered by attempts to close it down and interference by those under investigation.

It is alleged that $11.7m was taken out of public funds and used for the government’s 2013 election campaign, being allegedly laundered through the We Are All Honduras NGO.

Officials are accused of using some of the cash to bribe the opposition Liberal Party.

The money was allocated by the Agriculture Ministry for farm programmes, but part of it was used to fund retail-discount cards distributed by the National Party.

Former agriculture minister Jacobo Regalado will remain in prison and faces a 25-year sentence if found guilty of the charges.

Ten of those facing charges remain at liberty, including President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s brother-in-law. It is believed that there could be as many as 120 people involved in the case as accomplices.