Colombia’s Inspector General and Supreme Court agree that the country’s former housing minister has been a victim of a conspiracy that sought to link him with a paramilitary warlord, his lawyer said Wednesday.
PROFILE: German Vargas Lleras
Following accusations made by lower-ranked paramilitaries, authorities began investigating former Housing minister German Vargas Lleras for his alleged links to paramilitary chief “Martin Llanos.”
MORE: Colombian minister investigated for ties to warlord
However, the Inspector General’s Office told newspaper El Tiempo, it had dropped the disciplinary charges because the witnesses testifying against the minister were making up allegations and Vargas Lleras could be the victim of a conspiracy.
According to Vargas Lleras’ lawyer,the Supreme Court has also ordered to criminally investigate a former paramilitary for giving false testimony.
The attorney told RCN Radio that the court order and the decision made by the Inspector General prove that his client is innocent and in fact the victim of a conspiracy.
“Three people have not told the truth in their statements,” the lawyer said.
The ex-minister was accused of links to former paramilitary “Martin Llanos,” whom he allegedly met in 2002. Both Vargas Lleras and Llanos have denied ever having met.
The former minister’s lawyer also affirmed there was no evidence to indicate that ex-President Alvaro Uribe’s brother was behind the plot, which at one point was alleged.
MORE: Uribe’s brother behind conspiracy plot: Housing Minister