Office of Attorney General requested exclusion of alias Don Mario and alias Gordo Lindo from ‘Justice and Peace’

The Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Inspector General requested the exclusion of the alleged paramilitary leaders Daniel Rendón Herrera, alias Don Mario and Francisco Javier Zuluaga Lindo, alias Gordo Lindo from ’Justice and Peace’ process.

Colombia’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Jorge Fernando Perdomo, said that this request was submitted before the Court of Justice and Peace, firstly, considering that Rendón Herrera was not eligible for an alternative sentence of eight years.

The Office of the Attorney General established that after his demobilization, in 2006, alias Don Mario continued committing crimes and formed another so called criminal group Aguilas Negras Héroes de Castaño (Black Eagles Heroes of Castaño), and later, the so-called Gaitanistas self-defense forces of Colombia, which had presence in the South of Córdoba and in the lower Cauca of Antioquia.

Rendón Herrera admitted kidnappings of some persons apparently belonging to the Oficina de Envigado (Office of Envigado), Perdomo said. Several videos concerning the facts are held by the authorities.

During the hearing, it was decided to break the procedural unit in order to continue Justice and Peace process with others involved and to analyze alias Don Mario case.

In the case of Gordo Lindo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General also stated that he is not eligible for Justice and Peace process, since it was not established he belonged to the financial, political and military structures of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Zuluaga Lindo was devoted exclusively to drug trafficking, as it was established during the process.

For this reason, the Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice and Peace in Medellin was requested to exclude alias Gordo Lindo from the process and to send this case to ordinary justice.

If two requests for exclusion are approved by the Chamber of Justice and Peace, these two people will come out of the special process and will be transferred to ordinary justice, where they would face penalties provided in the penal code, which could come up to sixty years of jail and not eight years of the alternative justice.

“Only will get the benefits of the alternative penalty those demobilized that effectively cooperate in clearing up the truth and the satisfaction of the rights of the victims to the truth, justice and reparation,” added Deputy Assistant Attorney General Perdomo.