Seven Colombian soldiers have been sentenced to 34 years in jail for their part in a “false positive” murder of a civilian who they then reported as a guerrilla killed in combat, according to El Espectador.
The soldiers were sentenced for their part in the execution of Baltazar de Jesus Arango Rua on May 13, 2007, in the village of Costa Rica in Pueblo Bello municipality.
The Inspector General’s Office determined that the soldiers of the La Popa Battalion of Valledupar, in the Cesar department, took the farmer from his home the day before the assassination. They then presented his body as that of an ELN guerrilla.
Two other soldiers have already been convicted of the same crime, but both made plea bargains. An additional soldier was acquitted by the criminal court in Valledupar, but the decision is being appealed by the Inspector General’s Office.