Leader Says He Intervened in an Inquiry in Colombia (Bush ally Uribe)

Source: N.Y. Times

Leader Says He Intervened in an Inquiry in Colombia
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: October 10, 2007

CARTAGENA, Colombia, Oct. 9 — President Álvaro Uribe acknowledged Tuesday that he had intervened in an independent investigation of a jailed paramilitary leader, saying that investigators were trying to enmesh him in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate another militia chief.

The imprisoned leader, José Moncada, wrote a letter to Mr. Uribe recently in which he vaguely mentioned an attempt to link the president to a 2003 effort to kill another warlord. The letter also pleads with Mr. Uribe to avoid being entangled by investigators.
(snip)

But Mr. Uribe, who released the letter on Tuesday, did acknowledge calling the Supreme Court justice investigating Mr. Moncada, saying it was “my duty” to ask directly about the inquiry. He accused the justice, Iván Velásquez, of trying to persuade Mr. Moncada to implicate him in the plot.

In turn, the Supreme Court called for an investigation into whether Mr. Uribe had obstructed justice by pressing Mr. Velásquez, who questioned Mr. Moncada as part of investigations of dozens of pro-Uribe legislators and officials tied to the militias.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/world/americas/10colombia.html?_r=1&ref=americas&oref=slogin

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Colombian high court accuses Uribe of obstruction
Tue Oct 9, 2007 5:27pm EDT

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By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Accusations by a jailed warlord that President Alvaro Uribe ordered the murder of a right-wing militia boss have sparked a frenzied war of words between the Colombian leader and the country's Supreme Court.

The court, which is probing dozens of Uribe's political allies on charges they supported paramilitary death squads, accuses the president of obstructing those investigations while Uribe says it is plotting against him.

In several radio interviews, Uribe said on Tuesday the court offered benefits including a reduced sentence to jailed paramilitary chief Jose Moncada in exchange for testifying that the president ordered the killing of another militia boss in 2003.
(snip)

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement the president should respect judicial independence and stop calling judges who are investigating his government.

"Uribe has a disturbing record of making aggressive statements against the courts and media outlets that are investigating his administration and political cronies," it said.


More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN09519629

Colombian president says to investigate judges for bribery
+ - 10:04, October 10, 2007

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Tuesday he would start bribery investigations against judges who were investigating him for allegedly ordering the murder of paramilitary chief Alcides de Jesus Durango in 2003.

"We must not let those shoots prosper," Uribe said of the charges. "I am not accusing anyone, but I am asking for an investigation. The president also has the right to a legitimate defense and these are very serious charges," he added.

He said the investigation would focus on judges who had bribed a former paramilitary leader to make the accusation that the president plotted to murder Durango.
(snip)

However, Supreme Court President Cesar Valencia Tuesday publicly rejected Uribe's accusation and instead accused the president of creating obstacles for investigations into the links between paramilitaries and politicians and putting judges' lives at risk.

More:
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6280139.html

be for--except to snuff out rival drug lords, and lots of peasant farmers, union organizers and political leftists, who might get in the way of the really big profits to be made in South America.

Still, Uribe's rather small-time, compared to Bush, Cheney and their 'Democratic' connivers, who slaughter hundreds of thousands of people who get in their way.