Lawyers for Colombia’s former president Alvaro Uribe, have accused a congressman of “irregularites” in collecting testimony regarding the ex-president’s alleged paramilitary ties.
David Espinosa, one of Uribe’s lawyers, told Colombia’s Supreme Court that congressman Ivan Cepeda abused his power as a congressman when he collected the testimonies of imprisoned paramilitaries. The demobilized paramilitaries claimed that Uribe gave support to the Metro Bloc of the AUC, a former paramilitary group that was active in Antioquia when Uribe was governor of the department.
Ivan Cepeda told Colombia Reports that the accusation is being added to an old case against him that was launched in April of 2012.
“I think that these are public opinion strategies because [the accusation] has no basis in serious judicial terms,” Cepeda said. “I have fulfilled my constitutional duty in submitting to the competent judical authorities information related to actions that may constitute crimes, so I am not scared.”
“This is a defensive reaction by Uribe, who has a lot of explaining to do to the justice system,” added the congressman.
Uribe labeled himself as a “victim” to an existing case against Cepeda shortly after the congressman accused Uribe of paramilitary involvement and asked prosecutors to investigate. The congressman is accusesed of procedural fraud, misrepresentation and abuse of his legislative powers.
The testimonies collected by Cepeda last week led to the reopening of a previously closed case against Uribe for alleged ties to paramilitary groups.