The Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council has ordered an investigation into what prompted a judge to allow the transfer of guerrilla leader ‘Pablito’ to the Arauca prison from which he escaped Wednesday.
President of the Chamber, Judge Ovidio Claros, said that the transfer of Gustavo Aníbal ‘Pablito’ Giraldo Quinchia has raised a number of suspicions and an explanation will be required regarding whether or not the decision was irregular, reports newspaper El Espectador.
Claros said that there were a number of other protocols that could have been followed to ensure that a highly dangerous prisoner such as the ELN commander ‘Pablito’ not be submitted to an unnecessary transfer. There were other technical and legal tools by which the hearing could have been conducted without the detainee having to leave the maximum security prison.
“What we are ordering is a global investigation to effectively find out what happened, who gave the orders, if the trial could have been held without the prisoner’s transfer. We will have to verify all of this through our investigation,” Claros said.
The National Penitentiary Insitute (Inpec), along with the national army and government, are currently locked in a fierce debate regarding who bears the greater responsibility for the escape.
President Alvaro Uribe said that “there is no explanation for this escape. There are signs of corruption around this that are very troubling,” reports CNN. Uribe went on to say that the security at Arauca was weak, and somehow ‘Pablito’s’ rescuers knew where and when to find him. “We gain nothing from increased security if there is corruption in that security, like this corruption that permitted the escape of this prisoner in Arauca,” Uribe said.
