An unnamed plaintiff has filed a lawsuit with Colombia’s State Council to have the President of the House of Respresentatives, Simon Gaviria, removed and banned from office, reported news agency RCN Radio Tuesday.
The charges brought against Gavirira include alleged abuse of power and undue use of public funds while holding government office. The plaintiff claimed the president of the Liberal Party (PLC) had pushed to be awarded part of his salary while on matrimonial leave in Cartagena November 2010.
The official denied the charges on Tuesday, saying they were “malicious and blatantly false in all falsehood,” reported newpaper El Espectador.
“I did not take any leave, neither to get married nor for the birth of my daughter,” he added.
Gaviria said there were corresponding records to prove he did not take undue leave, and said there was no evidence to prove otherwise. He called the lawsuit “extremely strange and unusual.”