Colombia’s former President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday was subpoenaed to testify in a civil case against Alabama coal giant Drummond over the company’s alleged ties to paramilitary death squads.
A group of 500 Colombian victims of the paramilitary violence demand compensation from Drummond and claim Uribe “has direct knowledge of a number of key cases, including until what point the armed forces supported the paramilitary protection of mining properties of Drummond,” Terry Collingsworth, the attorney of victims of the paramilitary organization AUC, told radio station La FM.
The former president “knows the levels of cooperation between the armed forces and the AUC, specifically in regions like Cesar where Drummond was active,” the lawyer added.
An anti-Uribe activist at the Washington D.C. Georgetown University threw the subpoena at the feet of Colombia’s former president, who is a guest lecturer at the Ivy League university. According to activist Charity Ryerson, “the former president was [officially] notified when the document touched his body.”
If Uribe ignores the subpoena he risks a jail sentence for contempt of court, the activist added.
According to Collingsworth, Uribe is expected to testify in Washington on November 22.