Prosecutors discovered a plan to assassinate the judge in charge of the trial against retired army colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega, newscast CM& reported on Thursday. The retired colonel is accused of responsibility for the disappearance and death of eleven civilians.
According to the newscast, the plot against judge Stella Jara was discovered by prosecution investigators in the southern Valle department.
A reputed assassin with the nickname of “El Viejo,” who also is suspected of murdering a prosecutor in the city of Cali, is thought to be involved in the plot.
The investigators told CM& that a number of hitmen would attempt to kill the judge while she was traveling in her car.
Following the discovery, security measures around the judge have been heightened.
It is unclear whether the alleged assassination plot is linked directly to the trial against Plazas Vega.
Twenty-five years after the tragic Palace of Justice siege that killed more than a hundred people, the retired colonel is defending himself against accusations that he was involved in the forced disappearance and murder of eleven civilians who were were rescued from the building while the army was retaking it from M-19 guerrillas.