A Medellin NGO said Sunday that records of an investigation of the extradited former security chief of former President Alvaro Uribe has been stolen.
Human rights NGO Instituto Popular de Capacitacion (IPC), which has been investigating crimes by the military and paramilitary groups, told newscast Noticias Uno that the records were stolen while the NGO had reopened the case of the illegal wiretapping of human rights organizations in Medellin allegedly ordered by now- extradited Police General Mauricio Santoyo in 1997.
The NGO also had records on former and former paramilitary commander “Don Berna” that would be used as evidence in the criminal case against the warlord who ran the Medellin underworld until his extradition in 2008.
The robbery took places on Monday, September 3, one day before the trial against “Don Berna.”
IPC spokesman Diego Herrera told Noticias Uno that the NGO’s office’s alarm system had been deactivated, phone and internet lines had been cut and there were no signs of forced entry.
“This is very specialized work, not done by common criminals,” Herrera said.
According to the IPC spokesman, all stolen records had been backed up and no evidence was lost in the robbery.
The Medellin Police Department, which is being scrutinized by national authorities over possible past connections between commanders and paramilitary groups, refused to comment on the case.