Former Congresswoman Yidis Medina, who was convicted for receiving
government bribes to vote in favor of Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe’s 2006 re-election, received a death threat, her attorney says.
According to lawyer Ramon Ballesteros, the threat came from a group of “Colombians who will not allow to be removed from power.”
The threat was delivered to the former Congresswoman’s home by a man who delivered a pizzabox. Medina’s daughter received the box. When opening the box they received a letter wherein the death of the convicted lawmaker and her family is said to be regretted.
The death threat was given to police investigators and is being examined by a laboratory.
According to Ballesteros, the former congresswoman received abusive phonecalls before, but this threat has been the most serious of all.
Medina is expected to testify in the coming days against former Interior Minister and current ambassador to Italy Sabas Pretelt de la Vega who she says was one of the government officials who offered the bribes.
Medina is serving more than four years of house arrest after the Supreme Court considered it proven that she had accepted bribes to vote in favor of allowing Uribe a re-election. The Liberal lawmaker always had been against this re-election.