A member of Colombia’s largest rebel group, the FARC, claimed Sigifredo Lopez is innocent,
Lopez is a former politician accused of aiding the FARC in orchestrating his own kidnapping in 2002, along with the capture of 11 other deputies from the western department of Valle de Cauca, who were killed in captivity five years later.
Demobilized guerrilla Reinaldo Valencia, alias “El Cabezon,” testified before prosecutors this week that Lopez had no involvement in the 2002 kidnapping, although he had made previous statements implicating the former politician in the crime.
According to Valencia, a lawyer offered him legal benefits, including asylum in Sweden, to say Lopez had participated in the kidnapping scandal.
“There is no shred of evidence that says that [he collaborated with the FARC]. We have all the evidence,” said Alfredo Montenegro, a lawyer representing Lopez.
Colombian network RCN Television released a video Tuesday of the primary evidence in the case against the former politician.
Alfonso Cano,he was killed by the Colombian military The footage shows a man, presumed to be Lopez, explaining to a group of guerrillas how to enter the
Voice recordings of Lopez will be sent to the FBI who have agreed to conduct an independent analysis of the footage to see if the voice of the man instructing the guerrillas matches with other audio recordings of Lopez.
said the country will realize he is innocent and had absolutely no responsibility in the kidnapping and murder of his colleagues.
A final trial will take place on Friday to determine the legal status of the former politician.