A Colombian judge has denied the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office to be named as a victim in the false FARC demobilization trial, reported local media Friday.
According to judge in charge of the case, the investigating agency had failed to prove it had suffered damages specifically related to the 2006 false demobilization of a fictitious FARC guerrilla unit, and therefore the Prosecutor General’s Office “could not be recognized as a victim.”
The judge emphasized that it is the role of the prosecution to prove that the accused has committed a crime in specific reference to the case of the false demobilization. “That’s where you must prove the alleged harm,” said the judge according to newspaper El Espectador.
The Prosecutor General’s Office had requested to be named as a victim because of damage it suffered due to receiving false information during its investigation.
The judge noted that if the prosecution had been named victim in this trial, it would imply that the same could be applied to all trials relating to procedural fraud throughout the country.
The false demobilization of the fictitious FARC front “Cacica La Gaitana” was allegedly organized by former peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, imprisoned FARC guerrilla “Olivo Saldaña,” and drug trafficker Hugo Rojas Yepez.
The three had allegedly paid homeless and unemployed people to train, live and act like members of FARC and then surrender to security forces.
