Colombia’s Inspector General on Monday explained that senator Piedad Cordoba was dismissed and barred from holding public office for 18 years because she “collaborated with and promoted illegal armed groups.”
Early in the afternoon, the Inspector General’s Office explained his decision to suspend the dissident senator.
In a press conference, Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez explained that “the senator was dismissed because it was shown that she collaborated with and promoted illegal armed groups.”
Ordoñez explained that according to the evidence gathered by his office, Cordoba “instructed and requested the FARC to release proof-of-life videos of the hostages” in order to favor foreign governments. According to Ordoñez, the former senator also “performed acts of promotion in order to favor the interests of this subversive group.”
The Inspector General absolved Cordoba of treason charges.
In a response on Twitter, the former senator thanked “the numerous expressions of care of Colombians and foreigners…We will continue moving forward” and wrote she was meeting with her lawyers to discuss the Prosecutor General’s ruling.
Colombia’s Interior and Justice Minister would not respond to the ruling, saying that “one of the principles of this government is to not question judicial decisions.”
Cordoba is a highly controversial public figure in Colombia and was often accused by former President Alvaro Uribe of having ties to the FARC. The Liberal Party senator is president of “Colombians for Peace,” a group of prominent Colombians that are calling on the government and guerrillas to seek a political solution to the country’s 46-year-old violent conflict, and has in the past negotiated the release of a number of hostages held by the FARC. Cordoba was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.