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Alert

Jaime Garzón murder case to be tried by a specialised court

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 23 October 2002, the Supreme Court's Criminal Cassation Chamber decided that a specialised court must rule on the Jaime Garzon murder case. In Colombia, specialised courts are entrusted with cases involving human rights violations and crimes committed with terrorist aims.




On 16 September, the seventh judge of the Bogotá Specialised Court had decided that the case did not fall under his jurisdiction but should be transferred to an ordinary court, as he did not believe that the crime had been committed "with terrorist aims." Subsequently, the case was also rejected by the Forty-Third Criminal Court.

The Supreme Court's decision supersedes the previous rulings and the case will now be returned to the seventh Bogotá judge. The Supreme Court felt that the homicide should be considered a terrorist act since, irrelevant of the methods used, it had caused concern and terrorised the public.

Background Information

Garzon, a journalist and humorist, was assassinated on 13 August 1999 in Bogotá. His death prompted a huge public outcry and people took to the streets to condemn the murder. Carlos Castaño, leader of the paramilitary United Self Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC), is believed to have been behind the assassination. Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias "Bochas", and Edilberto Antonio Sierra Ayala, alias "Toño", allegedly carried it out. The latter two have been detained.