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“Javier Ordóñez was assassinated.” This has been stated by his family, witnesses and even the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López.
This would also be demonstrated by some videos and photographs that are part of the body of evidence, and that would show brutal attacks in the CAI Villa Luz (Engativá), from where Javier Ordóñez left dying for the Santa María del Lago Clinic in the early morning of September 9.
(You may be interested in: The confession of one of the policemen linked to the death of Ordóñez)
Although it will be the competent authorities that determine the responsibility of the police officers who would be involved in this incident, the video of the aggression suffered by the victim on public roads, the constant shocks with the taser, the man’s plea to release him and the The belligerent attitude of the patrolmen Juan Camilo Lloreda and Damián Rodríguez unleashed a wave of indignation that turned into excesses and confrontations that left 10 fatalities in Bogotá, according to figures from the District.
Ordóñez lacked an exam to become a lawyer. He studied aeronautics, but worked as a taxi driver, and had two children, 11 and 15 years old. He lived in the Santa Cecilia residential complex in Engativá. His mother is based in Barcelona and one of his brothers, in Buenos Aires. The Foreign Ministry arranged humanitarian flights for her return.
“Javier was very sociable. He was surrounded by people all the time, he was the entrance, the center of the meetings. He made everyone laugh. I want to highlight Javier’s heart of gold, ”recalls Eliana Garzón, her ex-sister-in-law in conversation with EL TIEMPO.
The timeline
At dawn on September 9, Javier Ordóñez was in his apartment drinking with friends. Together they went down to buy more liquor.
When they were on public roads the problems started. “The police passed, they arrested us, they asked us for our papers. One of them told Javier: ‘I’m not saved from this’. My friend replied, ‘Well, give me the hearing,’ “says Juan David Uribe, his friend, and adds:” The policeman takes it on him, they give him like 5 or 6 electric shocks. The last one is left too long ”.
Then begins the recording that went around the country. “Please, please” were Javier’s words, reduced to the ground, still receiving the shocks.
Although Colonel Alexander Amaya said that morning that the police came to attend a fight, the victims’ lawyer, Vadith Gómez, says there was no such.
A version given by the patrolman Lloreda to police investigators and revealed by the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO affirms that in that meeting in front of the group, Ordóñez rudely rebuked them and attacked them. The witnesses say something else: one of them has already received threats, according to Gómez told EL TIEMPO.
What happened at CAI?
After that, Ordóñez was led by the agents. They told the family that they would take him to the URI of La Granja to prosecute him, but that did not happen. “They didn’t treat him like a human being, they lied to us. The Police told us that they were going to the URI of La Granja, but they went to the CAI of Villa Luz ”, denounced Hernando Bermúdez, his cousin, who was there that morning.
“Javier left walking, they threw him in the patrol and received the first blow to the head, they took him to the CAI and the next news was that he had died,” he said.
This statement is in addition to the one that the lawyer released in an interview with Citytv and, later, with the Investigative Unit. He indicated that he has in his possession photographs that reveal the blows that the victim received. “In the CAI torture continues, he was brutally beaten,” he said, adding that there is “a ‘macabre’ blow to the front right.”
Another big question is where and how did he die.
“At 1:00 am, Mr. Javier Humberto Ordóñez states that he feels bad, for this reason a police vehicle is requested to transfer him to the Clinic (…) We admit him to the emergency room, where he is treated immediately at that time. And about 15 minutes later the doctor who is treating him comes out and informs us that the man had died, ”Lloreda explained.
Versions from friends indicate that they saw Javier ‘fainted’ at the CAI. And the lawyer Gómez maintains that “the victim does not die during the hospital (…) he has indications on his body that would show that many minutes before he had already died.” That would be revealed in the official Legal Medicine opinion that, as of press time, was still unknown. But, with material collected by a private investigator, the lawyer says that there is “aggravated homicide and torture.”
Background
Another of the battles that the taxi driver’s family is facing is that information has circulated through social networks that suggests that this man was problematic. These comments have been rejected by his family and friends. “Don’t want to dull a person’s memory by saying bad things. Saying that he was a ‘gem’, that he was a drunk, that he attacked the police, that never happened ”, asked his ex-sister-in-law. The victim has no record of any kind with the Attorney General’s Office.
For now, the family of this man, who became a symbol of the rejection of the abusive actions of the police, accepted the forgiveness offered by General Gustavo Moreno, director (e) of the National Police, who asked “I’m sorry to Javier Ordóñez’s family and friends, I’m sorry to all citizens, to all Colombians, because we know that these situations seriously damage their confidence in the Police ”.
For now, some decisions have been made against those involved. It would not only be Rodríguez and Lloreda – who have already been withdrawn from the Police – but also five uniformed men who were in the CAI who were suspended while the investigations progress.
While what happened is clarified and responsibilities are individualized, part of the Bogota citizenry, mainly young people, have taken to the streets every night since September 9 to reject police abuse.
Due to these events, the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, today called an act of reconciliation, forgiveness and amendment.
ÓSCAR MURILLO
