Colombia’s police suspended the cooperation of former paramilitary commander “Otoniel” with the commission that is investigating the armed conflict.
Police intelligence unit DIJIN ended a visit of the Truth Commission to the former commander of paramilitary group AGC on Thursday.
The police ended the hearings after W Radio reported that Otoniel had begun revealing ties between the “world’s most wanted drug trafficker” and Colombia’s security forces.
The police obstructed the Truth Commission’s investigations by recording the hearings that are supposed to be confidential, according to W Radio.
Alias “Otoniel” is being held in a high-security wing at the DIJIN in Bogota, which is a basement that is reinforced in concrete with armored doors and seven security cameras that permanently watch and record him. Those cameras, operated by members of the National Police, are the ones that make it difficult for him to tell the whole truth. Especially because his testimony will implicate members of the security forces.
W Radio
According to DIJIN, the hearing was suspended because the location where Otoniel is being held had “irresponsibly” been described.
This constituted a breach of the “entry and security protocols” and spurred the suspension, according to the police intelligence unit.
The police revealed that the former AGC chief was being detained in the DIJIN’s headquarters and published an image of Otoniel’s cell in November last year.
“Otoniel,” the most wanted drug trafficker in the world in recent years, was transferred from the DIJIN’s jail to the main headquarters.
National Police
In a press release, the Truth Commission said that it had respected all security protocols and that the police “should allow this person to give a free and voluntary account.”
The Commission insists that this interview is based on the right of Colombian society to know the truth about what happened in the armed conflict and we hope that this process initiated with Dairo Úsuga David, who was involved in the armed conflict for 35 years and linked to various illegal armed groups, will end satisfactorily.
Truth Commission
The police did not respond to its reported failure to facilitate confidential meetings between Otoniel, his attorneys, the Truth Commission and the war crimes tribunal.
