Families of the 1985 Palace of Justice siege victims will denounce the Colombian government’s interference in the trial of the former colonel accused of their disappearance, in a letter to the United Nations (UN).
The family members will send a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on judicial independence to complain about the government’s meddling in former colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega’s trial, Semana reported Monday.
According to German Romero, who represents the families of eleven civilians who disappeared in the incident, the Presidency crossed the line when it sent a letter to the judge on the case requesting that specific evidence in favor of Plazas Vega be included and asking that the court order to jail the suspected colonel be revoked.
Lawyer Rene Guarin said there was “blatant interference by the president and his government” in the trial.
Plazas Vega is accused of responsibility for the disappearance of eleven civilians who were caught up in an M19 occupation of Bogota’s Palace of Justice in 1985. The civilians were saved from the building by the army, but later disappeared. 24 years after the crisis no one has been convicted for the men and women’s disappearance.