2024-07-11 02:08:42
He is expected to serve as a “peace manager” and cooperate in the government’s outreach to armed groups.
Former paramilitary chief Salvatore Mancuso, who was one of the protagonists of the armed conflict in Colombia, left Bogotá prison on Wednesday after months of asking the courts for his freedom with the promise of cooperation in the government’s rapprochement with illegal armed groups , reported the Colombian penitentiary institution.
Mancuso, who had been in prison in Colombia since February, regained his freedom after appearing before various courts in Colombia and after they notified the Penal Institute that he no longer has orders to deprive him of his freedom after having been accused of thousands of crimes, most of them. committed when he was in charge of the defunct United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
The former paramilitary was deported to Colombia on February 27 from the United States, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for ordering the manufacture and shipment of more than 100,000 kilograms of cocaine.
In 2020 he served his sentence in that country.
Shortly before his release, the National Institute of Penalties and Prisons (Inpec) detailed in a statement that Mancuso would be released after sending 31 documents to judicial offices to review his file and rule out security measures.
“After the completion of the administrative procedure, Inpec issued… the concept of viability that gives freedom to Salvatore Mancuso,” the statement said.
The institution indicated that it has asked the National Protection Unit – which is in charge of protecting people who are at risk or at risk – to take measures to guarantee their safety.
Mancuso’s case is peculiar for justice in Colombia because it comes before two special courts: the Court of Justice and Peace, created for the paramilitaries who laid down their arms at the beginning of 2005, and the Special Jurisdiction of Peace ( JEP), which judges members of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and soldiers or civilians who have committed crimes in more than five decades of internal armed conflict.
Upon his release from prison, Mancuso is expected to act as a “peace manager” and cooperate in government outreach to armed groups after being designated as such by President Gustavo Petro.
It is not clear which negotiations Mancuso would participate in. However, Petro opened the door to dialogue with the Clan del Golfo, which has a paramilitary heritage and is the largest active drug trafficking cartel.
Mancuso promised to reveal the details of the armed conflict.
In versions reserved before the JEP, he has named more than 300 people, among them former state officials and former presidents such as Álvaro Uribe Vélez (2002-2010), whom Mancuso indicated he knew served as governor of Antioquia (1995-1997). ) on obesity.
Uribe denied those claims.
As a paramilitary commander, he accumulated thousands of crimes for which he continued to respond since he laid down his arms, among them bloody massacres such as those in El Aro and La Granja in which dozens of people were killed, being accused of supporting them . or relating to guerrillas.
#Video With a strong escort, the former paramilitary leader, Salvatore Mancuso, left Picota prison in Bogotá. Mancuso regained his freedom after being deported from the United States on February 27. pic.twitter.com/2sbxDUwR7R
— BluRadio Colombia (@BluRadioCo) July 10, 2024
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