The Special Court for Peace refused to extradite the FARC leader "Jesus Santrich" to the United States and ordered his immediate release

Colombian justice of the peace on Wednesday ordered the release of some of the leaders of the former FARC guerrilla "Jesus Santrich", held in a prison in Bogota since April 2018 and sought extradition by the United States for drug trafficking. drug.

The Special Court for Peace (JEP) "applies the guarantee of non-extradition to Seuxis Paucias Hernández", its legal name, and "orders @FiscaliaCol to have immediate freedom"said the agency on his Twitter account.

Before this command, The Colombian public prosecutor, Néstor Humberto Martínez, presented his "irrevocable resignation" on Wednesday.

In a statement in Bogotá, Martínez said: "My conscience and attachment to the rule of law prevent me from releasing Jesus Santrich, which is why I submitted the irrevocable resignation to my position as attorney general of the nation."

Santrich, the former guerrilla arrested after signing the peace agreement, is prisoner at La Picota maximum security prison after being captured on April 9, 2018 for allegedly participating in the cocaine shipment to the United States after signing the pact in 2016.

The court responsible for trying the most serious crimes committed during the armed conflict explained that they had taken the decision because the tests against Santrich "do not allow to evaluate the behavior nor to establish the precise date of its accomplishment" and he badured that the United States had not forwarded to him the evidence regarding Santrich's alleged involvement in the drug shipment.

It "adopted a decision challenging the evidence provided by the United States (…), the evidence is conclusive, unequivocal", said Martinez, who called on Colombians to protest the decision of the CEP.

The demobilized guerrillas he would participate in the shipment of ten tons of drugs between June 2017 and April 2018, accusations that he denies and that he claims to be part of a "judicial badembly" of the US government. United States and Colombian Prosecutor's Office.

The peace pact protects former guerrillas from US demands, but provides that former FARC members who commit crimes after the signing of the covenant on November 24, 2016 will be tried by ordinary courts.

After knowing the determination of the CEP, Santrich sent journalists from Bogota prison an audio in which he claimed that the liberation order was a triumph in front of a "dirty badembly that attacked the state department (US) and the prosecution".

"I hope that the government, the prosecutor's office and other entities will respect the decision of the special jurisdiction for peace and that actions will not actually be taken that will be thrown into the sea", did he declare.

The Santrich case confronted the CEP and the Attorney General, Nestor Humberto Martinez, for differences in the interpretation of the faculties of transitional justice.

The prosecutor's office contends that the CEP is only authorized to certify the date on which the alleged crimes were committed, in accordance with its regulations approved by Congress.

But the special court resorts to regulations that grant it more extensive powers, such as knowing the evidence in extradition cases, badessing the conduct and "proper procedure" that must be followed against an accused.

In addition, the United States called for the extradition of the former guerrilla commander. And Colombian President Iván Duque, who took power in August with the promise to amend the agreement, is in favor of his extradition.

During his visit to Washington in February, where he met with Donald Trump, Duque pleaded for the CEP to transfer the decision to the Supreme Court, traditionally charged with extraditions.

"If the Court clearly gives me the responsibility to sign the extradition, I will proceed with all the force," he then said.

A 52-year-old visually impaired, Seusis Paucias Hernández is recognized as one of the radical and radical men of the now-left party, the Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común (FARC).

Santrich participated as a negotiator in the dialogues between the government of former President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC guerrillas in Cuba, which, after four years of negotiations, resulted in the signing of the historic peace pact.

During his detention, questioned vehemently by his supporters, the former commander denounced his intention of murder and even staged a 41-day hunger strike to demand his release.

From prison to videoconferencing, he responded to JEP appeals in cases of kidnapping advances, attributed to America's strongest guerrillas.

For the capture, he could not take office in July as a representative in the House, a seat guaranteeing the peace agreement for the 2018-2022 legislative period.

Iván Márquez, also former chief negotiator of the former guerrilla group who considers him his right hand, refused to occupy his seat in the Senate in July to protest Santrich's imprisonment.

Since then, the location of Márquez and other former guerrillas who denounce violations of the agreement aimed at overcoming a half century of armed conflict is unknown.

The FARC movement denounced the state's violations of the agreement that had led to the disarmament of 7,000 combatants, including the badbadination of over a hundred members of his party now political.

By Rodrigo Almonacid (AFP)