Among those people prosecuted is the governor of an indigenous reservation in the municipality of Coyaima.
After approving the request made by a specialized prosecutor from the Sectional Office in Tolima, a judge imposed a prison sentence against Sonia Milena Aguja Viuche, Jorge Enrique Saiz García, Ángel María Aguja Alape and Álvaro Aguja as the alleged responsible for the crimes conspiracy and forced displacement.
The facts took place between January 2022 and May 2024 when the defendants who belong to an indigenous reservation in Nueva Esperanza rural area of the municipality of Coyaima (Tolima) allegedly displaced eight indigenous families from their lands. The properties would then be rented to cattle breeders and rice growers in the area.
The investigations showed that Aguja Viuche was the one who determined the details of the crimes; in addition to intimidating families by killing them if they refused to leave the properties.
She also ordered the burning of crops of plantain, cassava, white corn and Jamaica flower; and the death of farm animals and livestock owned by those affected. In this way he pressured the victims to leave the grounds.
One of the displacements that were attributed to the illegal organization took place in July 2023 when the victim, who was allegedly living in the reservation for more than six years, was evicted by order of Aguja Viuche, who is believed to have ordered the fences delimiting the property to be torn down and burned. In addition, the victim was ordered to pay 108 million COP in exchange for allowing him to return to his land.
The defendants were arrested on June 10 of this year as a result of home searches carried out by the National Police.
The defendants did not plead guilty to the charges that were brought by the Office of the Attorney General.
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.