2023-09-09 00:38:50
One of the men of the powerful political clan of the Atlantic Coast lies detained in a Police cell. This is Arturo Char, former president of Congress, who had to take an express flight from the United States and land in Colombia to turn himself in to the authorities after the Supreme Court issued an international arrest warrant in the midst of an electoral corruption investigation.
The decision of the high court was finalized on September 6 and Arturo reacted on his social networks, assuring that as soon as he was notified, he began to manage his return to the country and appear before the Court. His lawyer, Iván Cancino, also announced that the former congressman was on his way to Colombia and asked for special respect for the situation, but not before insisting on the politician’s innocence and ensuring that the investigation would be in his favor.
For this reason, on Thursday night, Colombian Migration officials were present at the Ernesto Cortissoz Airport, in Barranquilla, at least half an hour before the plane where Char was coming landed. And just when he appeared before the agents, he was captured immediately to be transferred to Bogotá, directly to the cells of the Police Dijín because the high court imposed an intramural security measure on him.
“The Chamber issued an international arrest warrant for the purpose of making the measure against Arturo Char effective, and red circular before the General Secretariat of Interpol, because currently the defendant established his place of residence in the United States, from where he has the respective nationality,” reads the statement issued by the Supreme Court.
In addition to that, the Court said it had sufficient evidence that Char could have intentions to evade some judicial actions. “The determination is also due to the behavior of the investigated person that calls into question his normal appearance in the process, as well as risks warned in the evidentiary practice and in the investigative activity,” argued the judicial authority.
What’s next for Arturo Char after his arrival in Colombia?
For now it is known that Char will not have to be presented before the Supreme Court to legalize his arrest warrant, since from the moment he was apprehended, the Dijín made it effective through a document in which the former senator is left to provision of the Special Investigation Room.
This means that Char does not necessarily have to be transferred before a judge, but rather they send that document so that the magistrate handling the case can evaluate the legality of that capture. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that this process is governed by Law 600 of 2000, so it is not under the adversarial system.
However, Char’s defense requested an extension of the investigation and for that diligence if he will have to be transferred to the Court, but a date for such a hearing has not yet been set.
Meanwhile, Char will remain detained while the investigation continues and until the Chamber decides whether to accuse him or whether to close the case. In this context, the place of confinement is not defined by the Chamber as such, but rather remains in the hands of Inpec. Although his defense has already requested that that place be Barranquilla. Likewise, there is the possibility that the former senator requests house arrest for the Chamber to evaluate, but for the moment he will have to remain in prison.
What has Arturo Char said about his capture?
Through his Twitter account, the former congressman published a thread with four points in which he explains that he is determined to face his legal process and wants to disprove the hypothesis that he is a fugitive from justice, as some personalities have pointed out. For this reason, he assured that he will face his defense “without giving up.”
“I have never been a fugitive from justice. I temporarily transferred my place of residence to the United States for strictly family reasons and because until yesterday, there was only one investigation underway and no judicial measure had been issued that would prevent me from leaving the country,” Char explained.
Likewise, Char is convinced that he is innocent, which is why he stressed that his lawyers are going to be in charge of delivering all the evidence to the Court to prove it. “My innocence will be ratified in the remainder of the process. I am certain that my lawyers will make available to the honorable court all the evidence to challenge the witnesses against me. And resolve my situation favorably quickly,” he added.
Why are they investigating Arturo Char?
The former congressman was splashed in multiple statements by also former senator Aída Merlano, who remained a fugitive from justice for more than three years and was deported to Colombia at the beginning of this 2023.
According to Merlano, Char was a key player in an alleged corruption network to buy votes on the coast. For this reason, the Supreme Court is investigating him for the alleged crimes of voter corruption and conspiracy to commit a crime.
According to Merlano in court, the Char Clan, including Arturo, paid large sums of money so that his escape could take place from an office in the north of Bogotá, where he went to a medical appointment with the dentist. The woman said that both the Char Clan and the Gerlein, two traditional political houses on the Coast, irregularly financed her political campaign in 2018, when she came to the Senate with Lilibeth Llinás, as her bicameral formula.
At the time, from Venezuela, Merlano appointed Julio Gerlein, the brothers Arturo and Alejandro and his father, Fuad Char; in addition to other politicians, businessmen and former congressmen in the network that was called “The White House.”
In that place, according to her, a criminal company operated that had technology to track the purchased votes and verify that they actually reached the polls. She also said that wholesale vote packages were sold to other candidates who purchased her services.
Likewise, Aida Merlano said that the two political houses wanted to assassinate her, in order to evade Colombian justice.
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