Having recovered from a 40-day hunger strike, FARC leader “Jesus Santrich” returned to prison on Saturday to await a court verdict over a pending extradition request.
The former ideologue of the demobilized guerrilla group was taken to La Picota prison in Bogota after the Medical Examiner’s Office said Santrich’s state of health had improved.
The FARC leader called a hunger strike after his arrest on April 9 and resumed eating on May 20 after a court suspended the process to extradite Santrich.
Prosecutors in New York City claim that the FARC leader took part in a conspiracy to send 10 tons of cocaine to the United States.
Santrich and other leaders of the FARC, which demobilized 14,000 people last year, say the former guerrilla chief is the victim of a “set-up.”
Whether the FARC leader will be extradited of not depends on the country’s war crimes tribunal and the Supreme Court. President Juan Manuel Santos said he would sign off on Santrich’s extradition.
Former guerrilla leaders are shielded from extradition in drug trafficking cases from before peace was signed in November 2016.
According to the US prosecutors, the case against Santrich related to alleged intents to export drugs in 2017.
Unlike other FARC leaders, Santrich had never before been linked to drug trafficking activities with which the FARC financed its armed conflict with the state.
