Former peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo will be questioned following allegations of a government plot to stage the demobilization of a group of fake FARC guerrillas, RCN Radio reported Thursday.
Restrepo will be questioned over claims that he collaborated with an imprisoned FARC guerrilla and a drug trafficker to plan the surrender of dozens of homeless people dressed as FARC members from the Cacica Gaitana Front on March 7, 2006.
Prosecutor Nestor Armando Navoa’s inquiry is based on incriminating testimony given by two former guerrillas, Jose Alfredo Pacheco Ramos and Luis Eduardo Montero Vargas, before the Justice and Peace unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
According to the two former guerrillas, Restrepo ordered then-commander of the Army’s 6th Brigade, General Lelio Suarez Tocarruncho, to visit former FARC member alias “Olivo Saldaña” in jail to discuss plans to fake the demobilization.
“I didn’t prepare anything with him [Olivo Saldaña] before the demobilization,” Restrepo said on Caracol Radio Wednesday.
The former peace commissioner said that he encountered no irregularities in the three months leading up to the demobilization to indicate that the persons demobilizing were not in fact guerrillas.
Depending on the findings of the investigation, the demobilized “guerrillas” of the Cacica Gaitana Front may be excluded from benefits of the Justice and Peace law, which include monthly allowances, physiological workshops and academic and work training courses.
The presidential adviser for reintegration, Alejandro Eder, told Caracol Radio that 36 members of the 66 demobilized members are still part of reintegration programs.
