Prosecutor files case against Santiago Uribe for sponsorship of paramilitaries – Investigative Unit

In January 2017, the Chamber of Knowledge of the Superior Court of Medellín, certified copies so that the rancher Santiago Uribe Vélez could be investigated, as a sponsor of one of the most bloodthirsty paramilitary blocks: the ‘Southwest’, which operated in the Angelópolis municipalities, Amagá and Titiribí, Antioquia.

The decision was based on statements by paramilitaries that indicated that the brother of former President Uribe provided contributions for that squad to patrol in the region.

(We invite you to read: Prosecutor’s Office says that seven witnesses of Santiago Uribe lied)

However, the prosecutor 128, delegated to criminal judges of the specialized circuit, Federico Lopera, decided to refrain from investigating Santiago Uribe. The case was followed in a parallel way to the call to trial for his alleged participation in the creation of the illegal group of ‘The 12 Apostles’ (see note at the end).

Lopera’s decision is contained in a resolution, known in its entirety by EL TIEMPO, which will be notified to Santiago Uribe in the next few hours.

(You may be interested: This is the Court’s investigation of Álvaro Uribe for the El Aro massacre)

“It was not established that Mr. Santiago Uribe Vélez had met with
members of that illegal organization, nor that it had been arranged with
these to agree a sum of money as a contribution. It was not
It is possible to establish that it requested some type of protection or that
executed a conduct that contravened the punitive order, “says the prosecutor in the case.

The testimonials

And as for the testimonies that involved the rancher, he adds that they were contrasted with those of people and companies that supposedly also made contributions, without finding a legal basis.

One of them was that of Rodrigo Alberto Zapata Sierra, alias ‘el Negro’, who (according to the court) included Santiago Uribe as a voluntary contributor to the organization: “… in the case of Santiago, I would like to make a clarification that part of Bigotes, a man who was imprisoned in Spain until recently was a member of a manger owned by Juan Diego Vélez, brother of Germán Vélez, cousins ​​of Dr. Álvaro Uribe Vélez and Santiago, he called me to see the possibility that Santiago Uribe was asked for money and it was agreed not to continue asking
money (…) but to clarify that in terms of volunteering he should have contributed voluntarily, but later he sent a reason that he was not going to
keep contributing because the business didn’t give him. “

(Also: Monsalve’s record, the ‘expara’ who unleashed the process against Uribe)

But the decision states: “As for the hypothetical responsibility that could fit Mr. Santiago Uribe Vélez, it is not clear whether he contributed or not. If we take their version and contrast it with the testimonies of the legal representatives and administrators of the brick plants in that sector, we will see that all of them and in unison have argued that they were never asked for money, nor were subjects representing that paramilitary group. “

‘The 12 apostles’

The decision is known a month after the restart of the trial against Santiago Uribe for the alleged formation of paramilitary groups (the 12 apostles) and the murder of the driver Camilo Barrientos Durán, registered in 1994.

(On the subject: What the priest in the case of the ’12 Apostles’, who died on Saturday, said)

Within this process, the final arguments of the defense are still pending, in charge of the criminal lawyer Jaime Granados, which are scheduled for the end of January.

The defense of the rancher assures that this case is a set up that seeks to hit former President Uribe and his family, and that it will prove it.

For the Prosecutor’s Office, however, there is not only evidence that would involve the ganadro. In addition, the prosecutor in the case, Carlos Marín, assured that during the trial “a symphony of false, inconsistent and irrelevant witnesses was set up who with precarious instruments sounded out of tune, out of temper and even uncoordinated.”

(Check here all the articles of the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)

For this reason, he asked that they be investigated for false testimonies, a request that the Attorney General’s Office supported.

For now, the decision filed with the farmer also benefits the company Tejares San Fernando.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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