Colombia’s war crimes tribunal JEP ordered a convicted former governor to provide information about former President Alvaro Uribe’s alleged ties to paramilitary death squads.
The former governor of the Magdalena province, Trino Luna, was sentenced to prison for his ties to paramilitary federation AUC in 2007.
The JEP said on Wednesday that Luna’s case was transferred to the transitional justice system, which would allow the former politician to leave prison early if he cooperates.
The former governor was convicted by the Supreme Court in 2007, but failed to provide information that would help identify the businessmen and politicians that made the Bloque Norte and its commander “Jorge 40,” as powerful as they were.
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Among the conditions imposed by the JEP are Luna’s cooperation that would help to exactly establish how and with who the former governor helped the paramilitary group assume control of government institutions.
Another condition is that the former governor provides evidence that would sustain his claims about Uribe’s alleged ties to the Bloque Norte.
The JEP additionally wanted more information over the AUC group’s alleged ties to the director of tourism association Aviatur, Juan Claude Bessudo, and the province’s current governor, Carlos Caicedo.
Between 1996 and 2006, the Bloque Norte was one of the AUC’s most powerful paramilitary groups and virtually controlled the Caribbean region’s economy and government entities.
“Bloque Norte” committed 497 massacres in northern Colombia: prosecution
Luna is one of 87 congressmen and governors who were sent to prison by the Supreme Court for their ties to the AUC, which sought political power by promoting the election campaigns of political allies.
The former Magdalena governor was one of the first to go to prison over his ties to the AUC and involvement in multiple corruption scandals.
Luna is not the first who has accused Uribe of having ties to the Bloque Norte. Convicted paramilitary commander “El Canoso” testified years ago that his paramilitary group financed the 2002 and 2006 campaigns of the former president.
Uribe was charges with fraud and bribery by the Supreme Court in 2018 over apparent attempts to conceal his alleged ties to the Bloque Metro, the now-defunct AUC that controlled much of Medellin and the surrounding Antioquia province.
