An Ecuadorean court opened a murder trial Friday against senior members of Colombia’s military and police for their connection to a 2008 raid on a FARC camp in Ecuadorean territory.
The regional court of Sucumbios (in Ecuador near the Colombian border) announced the initiation of a criminal trial against Freddy Padilla, former commander of the Colombian armed forces; Oscar Naranjo, chief of the national police; and Jorge Ballesteros, former commander of the Colombian Air Force, for murder charges regarding their involvement in the assassination of Raul Reyes, former second in command of FARC forces.
In 2008, the Colombian military carried out a raid in Ecuadorean territory against FARC militants without consulting the Ecuadorean government. The Colombian forces succeeding in killing Reyes as well as 24 others. After the raid, Ecuador dissolved diplomatic relations with Colombia, which were later restored in 2010.