Lawyers Thursday accused Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of trying to influence the trial against former colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega, who is suspected of being responsible for the disappearance of civilians in the 1985 Palace of Justice siege.
According to German Romero, who is representing the families of eleven civilians who disappeared in the incident, the Presidency crossed the line when it sent a letter to the judge on the case requesting specific evidence in favor of Plazas Vega to be included and requesting to revoke the court order to jail the suspected colonel.
The attorney also said that Uribe’s calls to show solidarity to military personnel on trial coincided with negative publications on Plazas Vega’s case.
Lawyer Rene Guarin said he will denounce the case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, because of the “blatant interference by the president and his government” in the trial.
Plazas Vega allegedly is responsible for the disappearance of eleven civilians who had been caught up in an M19 occupation of Bogota’s Palace of Justice in 1985. The civilians were saved from the building by the army, but later disappeared. 24 years after the drama no one has been convicted for the disappearance of the men and women.