Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office disqualified 4 elected mayors and a dozen council members from municipalities in several departments across the country, newspaper El Espectador reported Wednesday.
The Inspector General nullified the registration of candidates for the October 2007 local elections and asked the Prosecutor General’s office to investigate the politicians for “possible procedural fraud or other crime.”
Also, a higher court in Bogota ordered that those dismissed return the money received during their campaigns to the National Electoral Council .
The disqualified mayors are:
Hemel Sarrazola Jesus Leal, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Antioquia.
Jose Fernando Suarez Osoriao, San Jerónimo, Antioquia.
Ovid Mejía Marulanda, Maicao, Guajira.
Jorge Enrique Guáqueta, Suesca, Cundinamarca.
The disqualified Council members:
Javier de Jesús Orrego Arango, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Antioquia.
Jhon Fredy Gonzalez Ossa, Villavicencio, Meta
Libardo Enrique Barrios, Arjona, Bolivar.
Erney Adolfo Arango Vargas, Iquira, Huila.
Leonel Benitez Jose Agudelo, Paratebueno, Cundinamarca.
Gerardine Chala Lopez, Medina, Cundinamarca.
Nestor Enrique Quintero, Puerto Escondido, Cordoba
Omar Linares Moreno, San Carlos store, Target.
Carlos Arturo Londoño, Belén de Umbria, Risaralda
Elquin Francineth Giraldo, Paujil, Caqueta
Victor Manuel Rojas Jerez, Fortul, Arauca.
Cesar Mauricio Rodriguez, Chocó.
Disqualified members of local administrative boards:
Luis Miguel Gallego Ladino, local governing board of Manizales, Caldas.
Jhon Jairo Perez Estrada, local governing board of Santa Marta, Magdalena.