Former Vice President Germán Vargas Lleras, in his column published this Sunday in EL TIEMPO, questioned He announced that President Gustavo Petro made about the release of some of the young people who were detained in the middle of the protests before Christmas.
“President Petro has announced that the members of the so-called front line will spend Christmas in their homes in the company of their loved ones. No matter what legal trick they have to resort to, the Government will fulfill its commitment to this horde of criminals who contributed a lot to the subsequent success of his campaign”, began writing the natural head of the Radical Change party, which declared itself independent in Congress according to the Statute of the opposition.
(Read the column by Germán Vargas You arrive: Christmas on the front line)
According to Vargas Lleras, converting these detainees into peace managers “using the figure created by Law 418 of 1997 and recently modified by 2272 of this year requires, as a minimum, compliance with the requirements established in these regulations,” he added.
For example, he said that they must belong to an illegal armed group with which the Government has signed an agreement in the framework of a peace process, but he clarified that, up to now“as far as we know, these individuals do not belong to any organization outside the law, although there is speculation about their belonging to the ELN and eventually also to the dissidents of the Farc.”
Similarly, Vargas Lleras questioned how they will go about freeing people who have already been convicted of crimes such as homicide, terrorism and torture, which, he added, have nothing to do with the right to protest.
(In context: President of the Supreme Court on peace managers: ‘There is still no clarity’)
“As alleged perpetrators of these behaviors, more than 168 people have already been charged and another 118 already have an accusation against them,” added the columnist for this newspaper.
For example, he said that Figures such as pardon and amnesty could be used, but he clarified that these have a certain scope and “special criminal treatment.”
“This week we also learned about the reactions of the Judiciary in relation to the release announcements that would amount to ignoring the decisions of prosecutors and judges and, incidentally, trampling on the principle of the separation of public powers, the foundation of our constitutional architecture and democratic system. The Government has turned a deaf ear to this call,” added Vargas Lleras.
(In other news: Petro, the man who led the left to the Presidency)
In fact, this Sunday in this newspaper an interview was published with the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Aroldo Quiroz, who said that regarding the release of the detainees in the midst of the protests “there is still no clarity.”
MATTHEW GARCIA
POLITICAL WRITING