Ex-senator detained for using paramilitary death squads to corral votes
May 29, 2015
Ex-senator detained for using paramilitary death squads to corral votes
posted by Talor Gruenwald
Colombian ex-senator Miguel Alfonso de la Espriella was detained by prosecution officials on Thursday after the Supreme Court of Justice convicted the politician of using paramilitary support to garner votes.
“What happened (in Cordoba and Sucre) was that for the whole region, voting was centered around candidates of paramilitaries … Several people were assassinated for opposing their political positions, positions which included supporting Miguel Alfonso de la Espriella and Eleonora Pineda,” according to Jairo Salgado, the inspector assigned to the case.
Espriella is currently sentenced to 60 months of house arrest in light of his conviction.
The former senator was previously convicted and sentenced to nearly four years in prison in 2007 after it was revealed that he was a signatory to the “Ralito Pact”, a document signed by paramilitary leaders and over 50 Colombian politicians wherein the signers committed to reorganize the political institutions of Colombia to achieve peace.
Second conviction
Salvatore Mancuso, a former leader of now-defunct paramilitary group AUC, affirmed that he helped pressure voters and politicians in the Cordoba and Sucre provinces to support Espriella in his 2002 and 2006 elections, his testimony forming the basis of Espriella’s prosecution.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/ex-senator-detained-for-using-paramilitary-death-squads-to-corral-votes/
