12,000 Colombian Business People Probed for Death Squad Funding
12,000 Colombian Business People Probed for Death Squad Funding
Published 10 May 2015 (4 hours 14 minutes ago)
A Colombian court issued a ruling that called on the financiers of paramilitary groups to face justice.
As part of its 646 page ruling concerning former paramilitaries, the Superior Tribunal of Justice and Peace in Medellin, Colombia said that the financiers of their operations must also be prosecuted, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported Saturday.
The Colombian Public Prosecutor said that it is investigating 12,000 business people for their alleged involvement in paramilitary activity in the country. "The paramilitaries operated with the aim of exercising territorial control at any cost, violently imposing a new social order, and defending private property by fire and sword, with the support of the military and ranchers," read the ruling.
. . .
In its ruling the tribunal also made mention of illegal activities by some landowners that went beyond merely the collaboration or financing of paramilitary groups, who are widely recognized as being responsible for the majority of atrocities committed during the last 20 years of Colombia’s civil war.
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/12000-Colombian-Business-People-Probed-for-Death-Squad-Funding-20150510-0012.html
