Colombia’s prosecution asked Congress to investigate President Gustavo Petro over allegedly illegal financing of his 2022 campaign.
In a press statement, the prosecution said that it sent evidence to Congress, the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council “to investigate the alleged occurrence of crimes related to the financing of the presidential campaign.”
#ATENCIÓN | Comunicado oficial de la #Fiscalía General de la Nación. pic.twitter.com/zxuY13HnOI
— Fiscalía Colombia (@FiscaliaCol) October 3, 2023
The evidence consists of a recorded statement made by the president’s son, Nicolas Petro, about a businessman’s financial support for his father.
The prosecution is investigating the president’s son for allegedly receiving and laundering money from dubious characters ahead of the elections.
In a response, Petro said that the prosecution violated the constitution by focusing on the president, who can only be investigated by Congress.
El fiscal general compulsa copias contra mi, basado en un interrogatorio no legal en donde el interrogador de su entidad hace preguntas sobre mi, cuestión que es un verdadero golpe contra la constitución, dado que yo soy un aforado, como senador en ese entonces y como presidente…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 3, 2023
Furthermore, the financial contribution mentioned by his son referred to a political rally held in the city of Barranquilla five months before the beginning of the campaign, said Petro.
The president additionally criticized the prosecution for sharing the interrogation video with weekly Semana, which made it public over the weekend.
Following the release of this video, the president’s son took to social media to claim that he had been unduly pressured to talk about financial support for his father’s political ambitions.
Attorney Diego Henao formally petitioned the prosecution to clarify who gave Semana the interrogation video, which would be in violation of the law.
Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, a personal friend of former President Ivan Duque, has become the most outspoken political opponent of Petro.
The prosecution has opened multiple controversial investigations into Petro’s family members and allies.
Much of the alleged evidence in these cases has been shared with Semana, whose journalists allegedly also were invited to raids.
