A Colombian Senator claimed Monday that criminals dressed as policemen tried to enter his house as part of a campaign of intimidation against him.
Senator Roy Barreras, who belongs to the ruling ‘Partido de la U’ (Social Party of National Unity), told CM& news that for the last three months he and his family had been receiving threats.
“Armed men disguised as policemen came for me,” said the senator of the incident, which occurred on Sunday night. “It adds to the long list of threats and harrassment that we have received.”
The disguised men were turned away by the security guards protecting Barreras’ house. Police are hoping to identify the imposters using security camera footage.
The senator told how for several weeks he had been followed, he had received threatening calls, and been generally harassed.
“We have some ideas about where this systematic persecution is coming from,” he said. “We are trying to stay calm, it’s par for the course of doing such a difficult job in Colombia.”
“We live in a beautiful country, but it is still violent. I want a country that is beautiful, and peaceful,” added Barreras.
The senator suspects that the threats are an attempt to disrupt the upcoming Congressional elections, scheduled for March 2014.
In August, Barreras was accused by Colombia’s former health secretary as being a part of the so-called “contract carousel” scandal, in which a network of politicians, public officials and private contractors embezzled half a billion dollars between 2008 and 2011 through schemes affecting public works contracts to ambulance services.
MORE: 5 more congressmen implicated in Bogota’s $500M embezzlement scandal
Sources
- Roy Barreras denuncia amenazas contra él y su familia (CM&)
- Roy Barreras denunció amenazas de muerte en su contra (El Colombiano)
- Roy Barreras profile (Partido de la U)