Colombian Senator de la Espriella stripped of his seat for aiding paramilitary group

[News_Editor]

Colombian Senator de la Espriella stripped of his seat for aiding paramilitary group

2010-12-14 10:39:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (BNO NEWS) -- Colombian Senator Miguel de la Espriella was stripped of his seat on Monday for aiding and promoting a paramilitary group. He was also disqualified from holding public office for 20 years.

De la Espriella was found to be using his Senator rank to promote and aid the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). Authorities said that he aided AUC in retribution for the group's support to win his Senate seat.

"It was proved that Miguel Alfonso de la Espriella Burgos, as Senator for the periods 2002-2006; 2006-2007, promoted and aided the fore mentioned outlaw group as payback for the support given to his Senate campaign," Colombian authorities announced.

The accusations against the former Senator stemmed from declarations of the former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso. De la Espriella later recognized being part of the political wing of the illegal organization.

Mancuso told authorities that a political pact was accorded within the illegal group to put De la Espriella in Congress in order to act as the spokesman of the organization. Additional testimonies corroborated this information of the ties between the then-Senator and AUC.

"His role was to look for opportunities that will allow the criminal organization an approach with the federal government in order to achieve a ceasefire in exchange for some benefits like the ones obtained by the 'Ley de Justicia y Paz' group," authorities explained.

Officials ruled that the former Senator engaged in a severe felony as he acted 'consciously and voluntarily'. He also offered his Senate position in the service of the illegal paramilitary group.

Last September, Colombian authorities stripped leftist Senator Piedad Cordoba of her seat and disqualified her from holding public office for 18 years for alleged ties with FARC rebels.

According to prosecutors, Senator Cordoba advised FARC rebels and asked them not to send videos of kidnapped people, but to send voice recordings of them, to adopt a better strategy in pursuit of the guerrilla's objectives.

She also gave privileged information to rebels on different issues, including information about donations from foreign governments to Colombian authorities.

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