A former paramilitary leader, Rodrigo Tovar, prosecuted for several massacres and forced displacement of population in Colombia, was arrested Monday in Bogota on his arrival from the United States where he had just served a sentence for drug trafficking, authorities said. .
The former paramilitary, known under the name of Jorge 40,
"is now (...) at the disposal of the migration and judicial authorities, and will have to answer to justice and the victims in the framework of the procedures underway in the country"
, said in a tweet Miguel Ceballos, High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia.
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Former leader of the group “Autodéfenses unies de Colombia” (AUC), now dissolved, Rodrigo Tovar is suspected of having been involved in numerous crimes committed at the end of the 1990s by this far-right militia, which fought the guerrillas of extreme left, in particular on the Caribbean coast (north).
Rodrigo Tovar, 69, was extradited in 2008 to the United States where he was found guilty of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Previously he had led the demobilization process of some 30,000 paramilitaries under the mandate of former President Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010).
He also found himself at the heart of the investigation into a scandal which had led to the imprisonment of dozens of parliamentarians for agreements made with the paramilitaries.
However, he refused to collaborate from the United States with
"Justice and Peace"
, a court created especially to judge the crimes of far-right militias, and which provides for remissions of sentence for those who confess their crimes.
In 2015, he was excluded from this process and will therefore be tried by ordinary justice, while he is subject to 1,485 criminal investigations, said in a video sent to the media the Minister of Justice, Javier Sarmiento.
The decision of Alvaro Uribe's government to extradite paramilitary leaders, notably to the United States, had been criticized by human rights organizations who felt that their departure from Colombia prevented the victims from obtaining redress. .
After the demobilization of paramilitary groups and the former guerrilla forces of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia is facing a new wave of violence perpetrated by drug trafficking groups.