Former Congressmen Fuad Rapag and Oscar Suarez have each been condemned to nine years in prison for their ties to paramilitary death squads.
The two men, who were sentenced on Wednesday, had used connections with paramilitary group AUC to gain political support, the Supreme Court in Bogota was told.
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Former Conservative Party Senator Suarez was first arrested in 2011 when officials began an investigation into his extraordinary landslide victory in 2006, when he won 81% of the vote in the Bello municipality. He was accused by captured paramilitary leaders Diego Murillo, alias “Don Berna” and Freddy Rendon Herrera, alias “El Aleman” of having used paramilitary intimidation to coerce voters.
Locals reported in 2011 that gunmen had intimidated them into voting for Suarez at polling stations.
Former Senator Rapag, a member of President Juan Manuel Santos‘ U Party, was also arrested in 2011 within the context of the “parapolitics” scandal that saw at least 30 law makers convicted for using their connections with paramilitary groups to garner political gain.
MORE: U Party Senator Arrested Over Paramilitary Ties
According to paramilitary leader Jose Gregorio Mangones, alias “Carlos Tijeras,” Rapag had received support from the northern bloc of the AUC.
Sources
- Condenan a dos exparlamentarios colombianos por vínculos con paramilitares (Univision Noticias)
- Condenados Fuad Rapag y Óscar Suárez por parapolítica (El Heraldo)