Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti called the magistrate investigating his alleged involvement in corruption “crazy, demented” and “a criminal” after she ordered a raid on his home.
In a video posted on social media platform X, Benedetti angrily revealed that Magistrate Cristina Lombana and 30 investigators were raiding his home in Barranquilla, the largest city on the Caribbean coast.
Benedetti’s wife, Adelina Guerrero, said on X that Lombana “took my cellphone, which they tried to unlock illegally until they blocked it” and “threatened to arrest me and intimidated me with officials from the special operations group against organized crime.”
W Radio published images of the controversial Supreme Court magistrate leading the raid that the equally controversial interior minister called an “abuse of power.”
According to Benedetti, Lombana previously ordered to investigate 50 of his family members in an attempt to prove that he used his political career to enrich himself.
The Interior Minister called on the Supreme Court to take action against the magistrate’s “relentless and obsessive persecution.”
I implore the magistrates of the Supreme Court to pay attention to the relentless and obsessive persecution that “magistrate” Lombana has unleashed against me without a single piece of evidence, without a single witness. I insist on my plea. I hope you hear my call for attention.
Interior Minister Armando Benedetti
In a press release, the Supreme Court reminded Benedetti that Lombana is in charge of four criminal investigations against him and that magistrates are supposed to carry out these investigations without interference from their peers.
During the investigative stage, decisions regarding the progress of inquiries are made exclusively and autonomously by each office; however, substantive decisions that must subsequently be adopted must be mediated by the Investigating Chamber in a collegial manner.
Supreme Court
The court rejected the minister’s “personal insults and verbal attacks” against their colleague, stressing that this “may affect the progress of investigations or undermine confidence in the administration of justice.”
Benedetti’s alleged involvement in corruption has made the interior minister arguably the most controversial member of President Gustavo Petro’s cabinet.
Lombana became the Supreme Court’s most controversial magistrate after media reported that she failed to inform the court that she was an active member of the military at the time of her election and used to work for the law office of Jaime Granados, the defense attorney of former President Alvaro Uribe.
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