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- BBC News World
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Petro’s son (behind) is a representative in the city of Barranquilla.
The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office announced this Friday that it has opened a formal investigation into the accusations once morest the son of President Gustavo Petro, Nicolás, of having received money from an illegal source.
The judicial body heard the testimony of Day Vásquez, former partner of the deputy and son of Petro, according to which the campaign received money from former drug traffickers last year.
President Petro asked the Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday to investigate the accusations once morest his son, as well as his brother, Juan Fernando, who according to Vásquez agreed to pardons with criminals.
Both Nicolás and Juan Fernando Petro deny the accusations. The first announced legal actions once morest his ex-partner.
In an interview with the publication Semana, Vásquez accused Nicolás Petro of receiving 1 billion pesos (US$250,000) for his father’s campaign, which, he said, he did not report in the official accounts but instead kept.
The money was allegedly handed over by former congressman Samuel Santander Lopesierra, convicted of drug trafficking in the United States, and businessman Alfonso Hilsaca, investigated for alleged criminal conspiracy and homicide.
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This week Petro had his first ministerial crisis due to his health reform.
The Prosecutor’s Office also reported that since January it has been investigating Juan Fernando Petro for allegedly having received payments from convicts in exchange for being included in the peace negotiations that the president hopes to do with criminals as part of his “total peace” policy.
During the campaign, the visits of the brother of the then candidate to prisons throughout the country generated one of the most important controversies of the electoral contest.
“My government will not grant criminal benefits in exchange for bribes. On the contrary, we are in the construction of legal mechanisms so that these groups outside the law take advantage of justice, make reparation to the victims and stop violence in the cities and other territories,” Petro said Thursday.
“My commitment to Colombia and Colombians is to achieve peace, and whoever wants to interfere in that purpose, or take personal advantage of it, has no place in the government, even if they are members of my family,” he continued.
“I trust that my brother and my son can prove their innocence, but I will respect the conclusions that justice reaches.”
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