A court has rejected ex-senator Ivan Moreno’s application to be set free based on his claim that the legal limit to hold him without trial had expired, Colombian media reported.
The senator was arrested in April for his alleged part in the Bogota public works scandal and is being investigated for extortion, influence peddling and fraudulent contracting.
His lawyers petitioned the court for his release, claiming they could not legally hold him any longer without bringing charges.
However, on Monday, the court ruled the time period would be extended because Moreno’s lawyers had recently turned in 50 pieces of evidence they claimed would prove his innocence, which investigators are currently working through.
Earlier on Monday, Moreno’s brother, suspended mayor of Bogota Samuel Moreno, denied charges of fraudulent contracting, embezzlement and extortion related to the same scandal.
The court will decide tomorrow whether to keep Samuel Moreno in jail until trial or to release him.