First conviction for kidnapping and homicide of El Comercio team imposed

Family and friends say goodbye to the journalists killed in La Dolorosa church (Video 2018) 3:37

(CNN Spanish) -

A Colombian court sentenced Jesús Vargas Cuajiboy, alias “Reinel”, to 28 years and 8 months in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a journalistic team from the newspaper El Comercio in Ecuador between March and April 2018.

It is the first sentence related to this crime, the Colombian Attorney General's Office reported on Tuesday in a statement.

According to the institution, Vargas Cuajiboy accepted his responsibility and from the maximum security prison where he is being held, he performed a virtual act of forgiveness with the victims' families.

• They capture an alleged kidnapper of a journalistic group of the newspaper El Comercio

Relatives of the El Comercio journalists Javier Ortega, Paul Rivas and the team's driver, Efraín Segarra, appear in this photograph from June 22, 2018, when they came to identify the bodies at the Palmira airport, Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

(Credit: LUIS ROBAYO / AFP via Getty Images)

The First Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Tumaco, located in the department of Nariño, sentenced Vargas Cuajiboy for the crimes of "aggravated conspiracy, aggravated extortion kidnapping and aggravated homicide."

The investigation established that the victims were kidnapped by members of the residual group "Oliver Sinisterra" in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, located on the border with Colombia.

Then they were left in charge of alias “Reinel”, who according to the authorities kept them in his custody until alias “Guacho”, at that time leader of the dissident structure of the FARC and killed by the Colombian authorities in December 2018, ordered them to be killed.

They capture a suspect in the kidnapping of Ecuadorian journalists (2018 video) 2:18

The bodies of the reporter Javier Ortega;

the photographer Paúl Rivas and the driver Efraín Segarra were found days later, a fact that shocked Ecuador.

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Alias ​​“Reinel” must also pay a fine equivalent to 5,056 monthly legal minimum wages in Colombia, which at the current rate would be more than 1.2 million dollars.

The Prosecutor's Office announced that the verification of the pre-agreement with Gustavo Angulo Arboleda, alias “Cherry”, is about to begin the trial stage against Gustavo Ospina Hernández, alias “Barbas”.

El Comercio newspaper