Killed in CAI de Soacha. Government speaks of “politicking” and “tiny” police abuses

The Minister of Defense, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, referred, on the afternoon of this Wednesday, November 11, to the event recorded on September 4 at the San Mateo Police Station, which left, at least, eight youths killed and 11 wounded.

“I want to reject, together with the Director of the National Police, vehemently, the campaign of delegitimization and discredit that sectors that politicize with death have been carrying out against our National Police”Said the minister.

In his speech, Minister Trujillo García assured that everything is part of a strategy to weaken the institution “that has served the country for more than twelve decades.”

Likewise, the head of the Defense portfolio assured that, contrary to what some versions spread, the policemen who were at the scene of the events did help the victims.

“Once the unfortunate events occurred, where a group of people who were detained were injured, our police officers immediately acted to respond to the emergency ”, Trujillo added.

The words of Minister Trujillo generated reactions from senators Iván Cepeda and Gustavo Bolívar.

For its part, President Iván Duque referred to the security in the capital and the multiple complaints of thefts and homicides that alert the inhabitants, as well as police abuses. The president admitted that some procedures of the authorities must be improved to guarantee security in the city, but also He assured that the efforts of the National Police stand out more than their mistakes.

“The Police is an institution that has existed for 129 years, and they are men and women who dedicate themselves to Colombians day, morning and afternoon. We are not rigorous enough as a society to see that effort (…) many times there are abuses, which are intolerable, but many timesthese facts are miniscule compared to the effort made every day by them “. The president added that events such as the abuse against Javier Ordoñez must have “zero tolerance.”

The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, also referred to the complaints about the situation presented at the CAI of Soacha and he assured that, although he does not know all the details of the situation, “it is inadmissible. Those bald men could have committed a fault, a crime, but a fire does break out, the moral and public duty of the police officers was to save their lives, get them out ”.

THE COMPLAINTS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO INVESTIGATION

During the morning of November 10, Diego Cancino, a Bogotá councilor for the Alianza Verde party, publicly denounced the incident, which became the subject of investigation for the Attorney General’s Office.

The complaint was made through his Twitter account, where he published two videos with images of the events, in which he explained what happened five days before the protests in Bogotá, as a result of the alleged murder of lawyer Javier Ordóñez.

“The policemen came out and locked the boys. They didn’t let anyone in, they didn’t let the fire extinguishers use them, the boys got burned, “said Diego Cancino in the video, in which he added:

The relatives were desperate, they did not let anyone in, they let the boys set on fire. One died that day and the others the following days from fatal burns.

After the complaint, the entity will begin to study the facts to determine if the high number of victims was a consequence of the lack of help from the station’s uniforms.

“The Office of the Attorney General seeks to establish the actions deployed by the uniformed officers once the fire started, and if the allegations that 20 young people remained in the place are true, who protested because they had been denied the possibility of having a family visit”, stated the entity through a statement.

To advance in the collection of evidence, the entity will order the taking of evidence, including the statements of councilor Diego Cancino, as well as those of the superior who was in charge of the Police station and the uniformed men who were in service on the day of the unfortunate event.

On the other hand, in the last hours, the delegate for Citizen Security, Carmen Torres Malaver, the director of the Cundinamarca Section and the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, they ordered the collection of more evidentiary evidence.

Among the evidence collected, the Prosecutor’s Office has the medical records and necropsy protocols of the victims, also, with videos contributed by their relatives who will be analyzed by the researchers.

The Colonel César Ovidio Castro, Commander of the Cundinamarca Police, rejected any allegation of negligence and indicated that the investigations to clarify the facts are ongoing.

The commander explained, in an interview for Blu Radio, that that day a group of family members appeared, who wanted to be allowed to visit, provoking a riot of the detainees who lit a blanket, which caused the rapid spread of the fire.

In addition, the Police also assured that two young people who were detained at the station on the day of the fateful event are still undergoing medical treatment and, one more, recovering in the hospital.

In contrast to the version of the authorities are the statements of Diego Cancino, the lobbyist of the Alianza Verde party, who, during the morning of November 11, gave an interview to RCN Radio on the subject that today is under the magnifying glass of the media.

“In the hospitals where the young people were referred they told us that there was gasoline in the boys’ bodies”Cancun said. According to him, although the detainees burned the mattresses, as a sign of protest for the authorities to allow their families to enter, there are serious indications that it was the uniformed men who increased the fire.

But what happened does not stop there. According to some relatives of the victims, who have given statements to the media, but without identifying themselves for security reasons, “we implore the Police to let us in to put out the fire, to let the boys out, but they did not want. When we finally entered with fire extinguishers it was too late “.

“There were more than 20 uniformed men, and none of them did anything to help them, so they would not burn themselves. They crossed their arms and let the fire spread ”, A mother who lost her son claimed in a testimony compiled by the Councilor.

In another of the statements of the families of the victims of the fire, it is assured that “that day they pepper sprayed those of us who tried to break the windows,” which is why the lobbyist asked the Attorney General’s Office to follow up the case. .

The families are threatened with death (…). It seems that this is a systematic practice in Cundinamarca

According to Diego Cancino, the reason why the “massacre”, the product of a “human bonfire caused by the Police”, had not been reported is because, after what happened, the victims’ relatives have received threats. afraid to speak ”, explains the councilor.

“The families are threatened with death (…). It seems that this is a systematic practice in Cundinamarca, threaten witnesses of police abuse so that they do not report “, he claimed.

After Cancino’s complaints, the Cundinamarca Police Command, which the lobbyist asks “not to wash your hands,” said that the CTI of the Prosecutor’s Office was asked to carry out its investigation. So far, the National Attorney General’s Office has not taken a role in what happened.

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