The arguments presented by the Prosecutor’s Office at trial allowed the First Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Valledupar (Cesar) to issue judgment of conviction against five soldiers for the offence of homicide of a protected person.
The decision derives from the events occurred on June 14, 2008 at the hill Las Señoras in the municipality of Pueblo Bello (Cesar), housing place of the indigenous community Maniaca, where children, Nixa Marbelis Martínez Cáceres and Giovanny Zapata Jimenez died.
According to the investigation, victims were assassinated by soldiers, pretending to have been killed in combat in this area.
The soldiers involved are: the Second Sergeant, Raúl Patarroyo Vargas, and the professional soldiers, Balmer Antonio Granados Rodriguez, Wilson Bolaños Garcia, Edward Francisco Moreno Ninco and Yair Isaac Fernández Estrada.
The convicted persons are imprisoned in the military detention center at the Tenth Armored Brigade based in Valledupar.