Colombia’s prosecutor general asks the Supreme Court to investigate statements by extradited AUC member Juan Carlos Sierra, alias “El Tuso,” who claims to have had links with ex-Senator Mario Uribe.
At his first hearing for Colombia’s Justice and Peace process from his U.S. prison, El Tuso said that he was a friend, protector and financier of the political campaigns of Uribe, a former Senate president and cousin of former President Alvaro Uribe.
The paramilitary claimed that for more than a decade he had done “many favors” for the Antioquian politician, who is currently in jail, standing trial for paramilitary links before the Supreme Court.
Mario Uribe’s lawyer requested that Sierra’s statements not be used in the current “parapolitics” proceedings against the ex-senator.
Colombia’s former consul in Spain on Friday gave further evidence that Mario Uribe had ties with El Tuso, claiming that the paramilitary accompanied Victor Horacio Uribe, brother of the now-jailed politician, on a trip to Spain.
The paramilitary added that not only was he connected to Mario Uribe, but he “worked together with the forensics office, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the army, the DAS and the police.”
Sierra also incriminated former General Luis Alberto Moore Perea, who directed the transit police, and Mario Montoya, a former army commander and ambassador to the Dominican Republic, reports El Tiempo.
Sierra claims that Moore received COP28 million from illicit activities when he was a colonel working in Antioquia.
Moore claims that he had met with Sierra three times before before, but had no idea of his connections to drug trafficking and did not participate in any illegal activity.
A statement released by the prosecutor general said that Sierra’s allegations should be evaluated by the proper authorities.
AUC commander Salvatore Mancuso also recently testified that he had ordered his men to rally political support for Uribe’s 2002 candidacy for that year’s Senate election.
