Colombia’s Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of a university professor accused of being the FARC‘s ambassador in Mexico.
According to the court, Miguel Beltran may not be held longer as the evidence against him is inadmissible in court.
Beltran was arrested in May 2009 in Mexico City where he was working as a sociology professor at the National Autonomous University. He was extradited to Colombia where he was accused of being a FARC representative.
The evidence used against Beltran was allegedly found on the computers of slain FARC commander Raul Reyes. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court said that this evidence is inadmissible in court because it was improperly obtained in the March 2008 operation on Ecuadorean soil by Colombian state agents not warranted to gather criminal evidence.
Human rights groups have protested against the years-long detention of Beltran, claiming he was a political prisoner.