Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Tuesday he would start bribery investigations against judges who were investigating him for allegedly ordering the murder of paramilitary chief Alcides de Jesus Durango in 2003.
"We must not let those shoots prosper," Uribe said of the charges. "I am not accusing anyone, but I am asking for an investigation. The president also has the right to a legitimate defense and these are very serious charges," he added.
He said the investigation would focus on judges who had bribed a former paramilitary leader to make the accusation that the president plotted to murder Durango.
Durango, known by the alias Rene, refused to join the 2003-2006 demobilization program of United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries. He was arrested alive in June this year.
In a Monday night statement, Uribe said that senior judges had offered AUC leader Jose Moncada, better known by the alias Tasmania, reduced jail terms in exchange for accusing Uribe.
However, Supreme Court President Cesar Valencia Tuesday publicly rejected Uribe's accusation and instead accused the president of creating obstacles for investigations into the links between paramilitaries and politicians and putting judges' lives at risk.
In a Sept. 11 letter to Uribe, Tasmania wrote that judges had offered him benefits like jail sentence reductions and witness protection in exchange for admitting that the president ordered the murder of Rene in 2003.
After being demobilized in 2006, former AUC leaders admitted not only their crimes but their relationship with senior public officials, leading to the jailing of 14 legislators, most of whom were from the ruling party. Courts are investigating at least 37 more legislators for AUC links.
Source: Xinhua
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