Colombian ex-president Alvaro Uribe on Thursday proposed to build a prison wherein he and his (former) allies can await a multitude of trials or carry out prison sentences.
In a statement on Twitter, the former head of state said he withdrew his support for extraditions of Colombian citizens to stand trial abroad and that he had fully restored his trust in Colombia’s justice system.
“Thanks to my government’s democratic security policy, the country’s justice system is now fully functional and perfectly able to investigate the slanderous accusations made by criminals and disgruntled communists,” said Uribe.
“I propose to build a prison where I, my family and former members of my administration, politically persecuted because of their loyalty to me, can either await our trials or, if unjustly found guilty, carry out our prison sentences,” the former president said.
“To not allow these baseless accusations be the financial burden of the Colombian tax payer I suggest designing, financing and furnishing the prison myself,” Uribe concluded.
The former President has been accused of ties to the Medellin Cartel of slain drug lord Pablo Escobar and right-wing paramilitary groups, of illegal wiretapping of political opponents and the Supreme Court, and several cases of corruption.
Uribe’s cousin, former security chief and former intelligence chief have been sentenced to jail for ties to paramilitary death squads, while his brother is investigated for the same crime and Uribe’s sons face several corruption allegations. Two former members of Uribe’s two cabinets are being investigated for the bribery of congressmen, and one is being investigated for embezzling $25 million. Uribe’s former chief of staff is in jail awaiting trial over the aforementioned wiretapping. A second intelligence chief has fled the country to avoid prosecution of illegal wiretapping, while the former peace commissioner fled the country over the fake demobilization of the FARC unit just before the 2006 elections.
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