Colombia’s prison authority, Inpec, will have to provide an explanation as to why an imprisoned former senator convicted of “parapolitics” appears to have gone missing for ten days between February and March 2011, CM& reported Thursday.
Juan Carlos Martinez, who was sentenced Wednesday to seven and a half years in prison, left the Barranquilla prison where he was being held during the proceedings for a court date in Zipaquira, Cundinamarca department, on February 22 but then did not return to his prison cell until March 4, allegedly without justification.
The Supreme Court examined the relevant documents and has subsequently demanded an explanation of the disgraced senator’s whereabouts during this period. According to the court, Inpec has so far not clarified the situation despite being requested to do so by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court.
The Inspector General’s Office will have to determine whether there is a reasonable explanation for the situation, which was initially reported to authorities by the director of Barranquilla’s El Bosque prison.
Martinez was originally incarcerated in Bogota‘s La Picota prison, but had to be transferred to the Barranquilla prison in February, after it was revealed that he had held a birthday party in La Picota, in which he invited as many as 25 guests.