Colombian ex-FARC rebel rearrested minutes after leaving jail
A former commander of the Marxist FARC rebel group was released from prison in Bogota on Friday (May 17) and immediately re-arrested after new evidence came to light on drug trafficking charges, the attorney general's office said in a statement.
In a move likely to rattle an already delicate peace accord with the now-demobilized insurgents, Seuxis Paucias Hernandez, known by his war alias as Jesus Santrich, was escorted out of prison in a wheelchair and moments later, as he left prison gates, was taken back inside by police.
Hernandez, 52, was indicted more than a year ago by a U.S. grand jury for conspiracy to export 10 tonnes of cocaine, worth $320 million in street value. He was ordered released on Wednesday by a special tribunal.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which prosecutes leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, who handed in their weapons under a 2016 peace deal, had said evidence provided by prosecutors did not allow it to evaluate whether, or when, he allegedly conspired to move cocaine to the United States.
The JEP's ruling caused an institutional crisis when the attorney general immediately resigned in protest.
Because the JEP has jurisdiction over all crimes during the war, Hernandez's extradition can only go ahead if the alleged crime took place after the accord.
The Revolutionary Alternative Common Force (FARC), the political party that emerged after the peace accord, protested the recapture of Hernandez and said it was a "a setup."
President Ivan Duque has called a meeting on Monday with leaders of political parties to discuss the situation.
(Source: Reuters)
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