Disgraced senator Ruben Dario Quintero will be released on bail on Friday because the legal deadline for bringing him to trial has expired, reports Caracol Radio.
Quintero’s lawyer, Andres Garzon, argued that the former senator had complied with the terms of court, and that because the case had not gone to trial after one year, he should be free to leave the Picota prison in Bogota.
Mr Quintero was charged with alleged ties to paramilitary groups in November 2008.
He is accused of having received bribes from paramilitary leader Freddy “El Aleman” Rendon, the extradited brother of alleged drug kingpin “Don Mario.”
A Colombian congresswoman, accused of a similar crime, was released on the same grounds in January 2010.
The expiration of court terms was a controversial talking point during the Soacha ‘false positives’ case in late 2009.
