FARC rebel receives 60-year sentence for terrorist attack

A court Wednesday sentenced a member of Colombia’s largest guerrilla group the FARC to 60 years in prison for a 2008 bomb attack that left six civilians dead and 84 wounded.

The court found John Jairo Betancur Ortiz “Bird” guilty of crimes related to the Ituango bombing in which an explosive charge went off in a busy street in the northern Colombian town on August 14, 2008.

The “Bird,” who was only 19 at the time of the bombing, was convicted of six cases of aggravated murder, 84 attempted murders, terrorist acts, rebellion and manufacture, and possession and use of explosives exclusive to the security forces.

Prosecutors and witnesses during his trial also accused him of being a member of the 18th Front of the FARC although he denied this and all other allegations.

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