Extradited FARC leader Ricardo Palmera, alias “Simon Trinidad,” appeared before Colombian authorities via webcam from his U.S. prison on Monday to provide testimony on a 2002 FARC attack, according to a press release from the Colombian Inspector General’s office.
Colombian prosecutors allege that Palmera was involved in the 2002 incident, in which the FARC killed a young boy accused of being an informant for the army, laced his dead body with explosives, and then forced a bus driver to deliver the body, which was covered in gift-wrap paper, to Colombian police. Police discovered and were able to successfully dismantle the explosives.
The hearing on the incident occurred in the Villavicencio Courthouse in the central Colombian department of Meta.
Palmera, who was captured in 2004 in Ecuador, was extradited to the U.S. on December 31, 2004. After several mistrials on drug trafficking charges, the former FARC capo was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison for conspiracy and kidnapping.
He is serving his time at the ADX Florence Supermax Prison in Colorado.
