The first specialist judge of Bogota referred to the Supreme Court of Justice the case against former senator Ciro Ramirez, who is suspected of links with the paramilitary and drug trafficking.
The ruling made by judge Octavio Carrillo Carreño was based upon a recent decision of the Supreme Court that even congressmen who give up their endowments will still to be investigated by the court in case of crimes perpetrated during their tenure as MPs.
Senator Ciro Ramírez was linked with parapolitics since February 2007 when the Prosecutor General’s Office began investigating Parliament for alleged ties to the demoblized AUC member of the Central Bolivar Bloc, Henry de Jesus Londoño, also known as ‘Mi Sangre’.
Ramirez renounced his immunity after capture, in order to seek a more sympathetic trial by the Prosecution. For this reason, a delegate to the Court prosecutor took over the investigation.
However, Judge Carreño Monday ordered the case returned to court.
This is the first ruling in which a case against a congressman who surrendered his immunity has skipped the High Court and passed directly into the hand of the Prosecution to be investigated and tried by the Supreme Court.
“This decision was not made in haste. It was weighed and compared to what was said regarding law 169 of 1896, that guarantees due process to a person involved in a criminal investigation. I have deliberated and made my decision based on what the Court has indicated,” said Judge Carreño.