A Barranquilla judge on Friday granted three-day leaves to a former senator who was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail last month for his ties to paramilitary groups.
Politician Juan Carlos Martinez is now allowed to leave his Barranquilla prison every three months for 72 hours per leave until the end of his sentence.
The special leave is only meant for prisoners who have completed three fifths of their sentence and is granted when the prisoner has shown good behavior and fulfilled a set number of hours of labor in prison.
Martinez, who was arrested in April 2009 and sentenced on June 8, was transferred from Bogota in February because he was throwing parties in jail. After this, the senator disappeared for ten days.
The former senator is highly controversial because his involvement in political parties like Convergencia Ciudadana, ADN, PIN and MIO, who have all been accused of paramilitary and drug ties.