Ex-Senator Piedad Cordoba will be pressing charges against the Colombian state for “political persecution,” following the inspector general’s new case against her for “FARC-politics,” reported El Universal news on Tuesday.
Cordoba’s lawyer Luis Guillermo Perez will be presenting their legal case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the “persecution” of Cordoba that Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez has pursued.
Cordoba was removed from office as senator in 2010 and barred from holding public office for 18 years by the inspector general who found her guilty of having ties to Colombian guerrilla group FARC.
“The Inspector Generals Office does not have the legal authority to remove government employees from office or disqualify them [from holding public positions] when they have been elected by popular vote, much less a congresswoman who helps elect the inspector general,” Cordoba’s lawyer commented.
Ordoñez’s new charge against Cordoba for “FARC-politics” is based on evidence found on computers seized from FARC leader Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, alias “Mono Jojoy.” Allegedly, the digital records contain detailed financial records of Cordoba’s contributions to Montenegro’s political campaign while she still held her position as a senator of the republic.
However, Cordoba and her lawyer deny the validity of the case and she has renounced from defending herself against the charges. Perez asserts that the charges against his client are fueled by “a person who opposes [Cordoba] in a hostile way.”