memorandum of justification concerning human ... - Just the Facts

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alleged role in the January 21, 2003, murder of a Cali Municipal Corporation
Workers Union (Sintraemcali) activist, Freddy Perilla Montoya. The former local
politician was apprehended in Caloto (Cauca) and has been mentioned in the
testimonies (versiones libres) of several former paramilitaries with regard to his
alleged ties to the ―Calima‖ bloc.
16) José Francisco Zúñiga Riascos: The former Mayor of Santa Marta was
sentenced on April 2, 2009, by the Specialized Circuit Penal Court in Bogotá to
four years and two months in prison as a co-conspirator to aggravated crime and
hindering voters. In anticipation of his sentence, Zúñiga Riascos has admitted to a
prosecutor from the National Anti-Terrorism Unit of having received support from
Hernán Giraldo Serna, head of the ―Resistencia Tayrona‖ front of the AUC, in his
attempt to become the Mayor of Santa Marta from 2004-2007. According to the
investigation by the Prosecutor General‘s office, the heads of the illegal armed
group pressured the citizens, inhabiting the neighborhoods and districts in the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta and areas next to the ―Troncal del
Caribe‖ highway, into voting for Zúñiga Riascos in the October 2003 elections.
Zúñiga Riascos will be held under house arrest for health reasons. He was also
sentenced to a fine of $1,333 in monthly salaries and has been stripped of his rights
to hold public service during the period of his sentence.
17) José Ignacio Mercado Colón: The former Mayor of Concordia (Magdalena)
surrendered to the Technical Investigations Unit (CTI) on May 22, 2009, in Santa
Marta. He is being investigated for his alleged links to paramilitary groups.
According to the facts, he participated in was known as the ―Chivolo Pact,‖ signed
in March 2002 among political leaders and the former head of the ―Norte‖ bloc
Rodrigo Toval Pupo, alias ―Jorge 40.‖ The former Mayor, who held office
between 2005 and 2007, is imprisoned in the Judicial Prison in Santa Marta. He
was secured by a prosecutor from the National Anti-Terrorism Unit for his alleged
role in the conspiracy to commit crime and embezzlement for the unlawful
appropriation and concluding of contracts.
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