• Officials who stood out in the line of duty were awarded at the ceremony.
  • The event was attended by the President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez, who announced that there is a budget for the construction of the Prosecutor’s Office in the city of Cali

This 2020 has been challenging for the country, and especially for justice. The new reality posed by the pandemic forced the creation of scenarios and strategies to confront crime.

The Office of the Attorney General meets the country´s needs thanks to the commitment, loyalty and virtues of the personnel. Thus, the Enrique Low Murtra award has a very special value this year.

Officials who have stood out in the line of duty were awarded at the ceremony.

“We are giving an example to Colombia that the Office of the Attorney General shows vigor, respect and results to the country. These officials represent many others who are struggling in the different areas of the country from a judicial point of view, with their investigations, risking their lives, contributing  to preserve the rule of law in Colombia”, said the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado.

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez; the Minister of Justice and Law, Wilson Ruiz Orejuela; the presidents of the Courts, magistrates, the Ombudsman, among other personalities of the country, who were witnesses of the stories of effort and sacrifice behind each official.

“There cannot exist respect from public if there is not a coherent work of this institution. This institution has been working together with the public and recognizing the work and sacrifice. In the last decade, more than 860 people from the institution gave their lives for Colombia, and I want to give a great tribute to the memory of those people, as well as to the 12 victims of Covid that we had in the Office of the Attorney General”, said the Attorney General, Barbosa Delgado.

In Enrique Low Murtra edition, the contribution to guarantee effective justice in the territories was taken into account; a priority that was defined by the Attorney General.

“When I took office on February 13 of this year, I pointed out that this Office was going to be the Prosecutor´s Office for the territories and people who are in places that historically have not been accompanied by the State. Today, this Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out a mobile task, an itinerant task that together with the Police and the Dijín and different security forces, is moving forward in a strategy against the fight against crime”, he pointed out.

Award-winners

Public servants who stand out in the line of duty.

The following people were awarded in different categories:

  • Jeanet Patricia Peláez Ramos, prosecutor with 28 years at the service at the Office of the Attorney General. Her work in the Support Structure Group in the municipality of Tumaco (Nariño) allowed the dismantling of networks involved in the commercialization of hydrocarbons and drug trafficking.
  • Freddy Sánchez Tibambre, investigator with 22 years at the service at the Office of the Attorney General. Thanks to his work in the consolidation of the ‘Zeus’ platform, actions like harassment of the public force, murders, kidnappings, scams, subversive incursions, terrorist attacks were prevented.
  • Juan Carlos Linero Mora, prosecutor assigned to the Sectional Office in Cesar with 25 years at the service at the Office of the Attorney General. Thanks to his team and his effort, the criminal gang ‘Los Potrerillos’ involved in kidnappings for ransom was dismantled. He led an investigation that was affected by the pandemic with the loss of one of the members of the group, but there was successful rescue of the victim and the prosecution of criminals.
  • Jesús David Agudelo González Rubio, with 9 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. This investigator assigned to the Sectional Office in Atlántico was in charge of dismantling different criminal networks involved in drug trafficking in that department and the Caribbean region. A work that saved several minors.
  • Andrés Felipe Lopera Rojas, a prosecutor assigned to the Sectional Office in Antioquia with 8 years at the service at the Office of the Attorney General. He led one of the structural hard blows received by the armed group  “Clan del Golfo” in Caucasia (Antioquia) and he clarified crimes attributed to “Los Caparros” in Tarazá (Antioquia). These results led to the arrest of criminals in the region.
  • Libardo Bedoya Aguirre, investigator assigned to the Sectional Office in Tolima with 27 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. He stands out for his activity in the fight against criminal organizations. He achieved the arrest of Milton Sebastián Preciado, alias Arturo; and Jeffer Alexis Quiñones Riascos, alleged member of the residual groups.
  • Diana Mirena Hernández Sánchez, a prosecutor assigned to the Sectional Office in Valle del Cauca with 25 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. With her capacity and knowledge, she contributed to the arrest of more than 80 members of the criminal groups La Local and La Empresa.
  • Luis Gabriel Loaiza Molina, investigator assigned to the Sectional Office in Cali with 8 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. He managed the case of the murder of prosecutor Alcibíades Libreros Varela. In a short time, he launched different investigative techniques obtaining conclusive evidence.
  • Carlos Alberto Mejía Colorado, a prosecutor assigned to the Sectional Office in Medellín. He effectively contributed to the clarification of the killings committed against social leaders, human rights defenders and people in process of reincorporation in his 10 years of experience. During the lockdown, he managed to arrest and counteract leaders of ‘Clan Del Golfo’ and ‘Los Caparros’ in Bajo Cauca in and south area of Córdoba.
  • Adriana Marcela Hernández Prieto, investigator assigned to the Sectional Office in Medellín. In 7 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General and from the technical-scientific area, she made significant contributions to the design, implementation and analysis of the results in the diagnosis stage of the Cementerio Universal to locate 122 non identified corpses.
  • Leonardo Pinzón Gómez, prosecutor assigned to the Sectional Office in Arauca. With 26 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. He produced operational results against the dissident groups that have caused damages in the eastern part of the country.
  • Omar Duarte Duarte, an investigator assigned to the Sectional Office in Arauca. With 8 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General, he obtained important achievements such as the dismantling of the so-called Ciro Trujillo company of the Residual Organized Armed Group (Gaor) Martín Villa
  • Carlos Hanner González Arévalo, assistant prosecutor appointed to the Sectional Office in Norte de Santander with 2 years at the service of the Office of the Atttorney General. During the pandemic, he decongested 1,022 inquiries between files and investigations.
  • Luis Ruperto Rodríguez Oros, investigator appointed to the Sectional Office in Casanare with 8 years at the service of the Office of the Attorney General. His investigations contributed to prosecute those responsible for feminicides and to position the Sectional Office in Casanare as one of the first Offices that clarified intentional murders.

Also the following people received recognition: Paola Andrea Meneses Mosquera, former delegate for the Office against Organized Crime; Martha Lucía Yepes Bustamante, delegate prosecutor before the special circuit judges; and Héctor Torres Rojas, Investigator (técnico investigador I) for their commitment in the fulfillment of their duties at the service of the Office of the Attorney General.

Construction of  headquarters

Within the framework of the award ceremony, the President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez, highlighted the work and service of the personnel of the Office of the Attorney General, as well as the results produced by the institution even with the difficulties and situations derived from the pandemic.

In his speech, the Head of State announced the approval of the budget from a public and private alliance for the construction of the headquarters (bunker) in Cali that will begin in 2021.  This way, he  ratified the Government´s support to the work that the institution performs in the territories.

“Today we reaffirm our commitment to the justice and the fight against crime by giving the city of Cali a bunker, like this one, that steadily fights every day against organized crime”.