Retired General Francisco Pedraza was released from prison Friday two days after he was arrested for his alleged involvement in a 2001 paramilitary massacre that killed at least 26 civilians.
Witnesses of the massacre in Alto Naya in Cauca had accused Pedraza of failing to act while the massacre was taking place. Former paramilitary leaders involved in the massacre had said the former general had cooperated with the paramilitary organization AUC during the massacre.
According to a court ruling, the human rights prosecutor who had ordered the arrest of the retired general was not competent to do so and the Wednesday arrest was annulled.
In the massacre of Alto Naya, between 26 and 120 indigenous and peasants were tortured and murdered by paramilitary forces of the AUC’s Tolima Bloc, who accused the victims of helping left-wing guerrillas.