Alias Calero was allegedly part of the armed group that intercepted the victim and shot him in front of his place of residence.
After assessing the evidence presented by a prosecutor of Unidad Especial de Investigación– UEI (Special Investigation Unit), a judge imposed a prison sentence on Diego Mauricio Calero Muñoz, alias Calero, for his alleged participation in the murder of the peasant leader, José Antonio Lozano Puentes, which took place on February 22 of this year, in the rural area of Palmira (Valle del Cauca).
This person apparently joined the Adán Izquierdo structure of FARC dissidents in 2002, and was part of the armed group which intercepted the victim in front of his residence, and intimidated him with rifles and shot him repeatedly until he died.
Members of the Technical Investigative Corps (CTI), with the support of the National Army and the National Police, arrested alias Calero in Tenjo, located at Palmira (Valle del Cauca). In the meantime, the Prosecutor’s Office charged him with aggravated homicide; and manufacture, trafficking and possession of weapons, ammunition for restricted use, for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces or explosives. He did not plead guilty to the charges.
José Antonio Lozano Puentes was a human rights defender and belonged to the board of directors of the association known as Asociación Agropecuaria de Pequeños y Medianos Campesinos El Barranquero, in Quisquina, Palmira.
The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.