Colombia’s ambassador to Egypt Mario Iguaran on Monday rejected allegations that demobilized paramilitary organization AUC bribed Supreme Court magistrates to elect him Prosecutor General in 2005.
“For me it is no surprise that the embassy had noticed a rumor existed. I already knew the embassy had. I don’t see magistrates received money to elect me,” he told radio station Caracol early Monday morning.
According to a WikiLeaks cable released by newspaper El Espectador on Sunday, the United States Embassy in 2008 expressed its concern about rumors regarding alleged bribes by paramilitary chief “Macaco” to secure Iguaran’s election.
According to then-U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, the rumors stated that Macaco had bribed Supreme Court magistrates to elect Iguaran who eventually won the election with the vote of 17 judges out of 25.
The rumors add to the 2010 testimony of an extradited paramilitary who claimed Macaco paid more than $2.5 million to Supreme Court magistrates to secure Iguaran’s election.
Iguaran was prosecutor general from 2005 to 2009 and one of the leading forces behind the prosecution of politicians with ties to the AUC.