Bogotá (EFE).- The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, asked the Prosecutor’s Office this Thursday to investigate his brother and his eldest son for alleged meetings in prisons where, according to some versions, they were posing as members of the Government to give benefits in exchange for information.
According to Petro, upon reaching the Presidency he made a “commitment to Colombian men and women” and must be “loyal to the vote” deposited. For this reason, and according to the “information that is rumored in public opinion”, he asked the attorney general “to carry out all the necessary investigations and determine possible responsibilities” regarding his brother Juan Fernando Petro and his son Nicolás Petro .
In recent months, the existence of an alleged “lawyer cartel” was revealed that would be entering prisons to grant drug traffickers benefits or even ask them for money in exchange for including them in the “total peace” of the Government.
“A few lawyers lacking in professional ethics have tried to deceive people deprived of their liberty and their families, charging money in exchange for promises ranging from supposed assignments in peace agencies, to prison transfers and, even, to the suspension of processes of extradition”, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace when the case was known.
“My government will not grant benefits to criminals 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, “said Petro today in a statement.
Peace in Colombia has a leader
The president recalled that “the only official who has the endorsement of the Government to have contact with organizations outside the law with the sole objective of seeking peace is the High Commissioner for Peace, Danilo Rueda.”
And for this reason, “whoever wants to interfere in this purpose (achieve peace), or take personal advantage of it, has no place in the Government, even if they are members of my family,” the president estimated.
However, he trusted that his brother and son “can prove his innocence”, but added that he will respect “the conclusions reached by justice”.
Petro’s brother testified last February at the Prosecutor’s Office precisely because of the complaints around this “cartel of lawyers” to declare himself a victim in this case, in which he assured that his name was used for “purposes other than the exercise that he has been developing ”, according to his defense.