The family members of two victims killed in a 1995 bomb blast that killed 23 people during a concert in Medellin, will be compensated after Colombia’s state council on Monday ruled that police could have prevented the attack.
The relatives of Alejandro de Jesus Isaza Restrepo and Mario Carlos Suarez Marulanda filed lawsuits claiming police negligently handled the security situation at Parque San Antonio (San Antonio Park) where 22 pounds worth of dynamite were laid next to a prominent statue in the center of the park. After the Antioquia Administrative Court did not rule in their favor in 2001, the families appealed to the State Council.
While there were 20 police officers conducting surveillance, “the truth is that it was poor,” declared the State Council. Supposedly the officers simply inspected from afar and did not walk down into the park where the statue and the explosives were planted. According to the State Council’s ruling, a device of that size “could not be easily concealed…[and it was] located right next to the sculpture that adorned the square.”
It is still uncertain how exactly the families will be compensated, or more aptly, how much compensation they will receive.
Sources
- Condena por Bombazo a “El Pajaro” (El espectador)
- Bomb in Medellin, Colombian drug city (New York Times)
