A Bogota judge ordered the immediate release of another seven suspects in the extrajudicial executions of eleven young men.
A total of 38 soldiers, suspected of having recruited and then murdered the victims in order to present them as guerrillas killed in combat, have been released so far, because their defense lawyers have successfully claimed that their clients have not been brought to court on time.
The investigation against the soldiers will continue, and most of the accused soldiers are being held in army buildings while awaiting trial.
The Soacha “false positives” case initiated a huge investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings of civilians by members of Colombia’s armed forces. Some 1,200 soldiers are being investigated for the murder of more than 2,000 civilians.
