Former paramilitary claims he was bribed to testify against court officials .
Former paramilitary claims he was bribed to testify against court officials .
Monday, 27 August 2012 15:25 Courtney Scott
An ex-paramilitary member of the AUC has claimed that a lawyer has repeatedly offered him bribes to testify in favor of Colombian ex-senator Oscar Suarez Mira, reported local media Monday.
The demobilized AUC guerrilla Libardo Duarte, alias "Bam Bam," reported that a lawyer identified as Luis Guillermo Quiñones Benavidez offered him over $110,000 to testify against three judges of the Supreme Court.
According to Bam Bam, the lawyer had offered him money in exchange for saying that judges Ivan Velasquez, Sigifredo Espinosa and Augusto Ibañez had offered him legal benefits to testify against ex-senator Mira. The former politician is currently being tried for alleged paramilitary ties, which he was arrested for in January 2011.
The demobilized AUC member said that the lawyer Quinoñes had visited him in jail on various occasions to make these offers. The lawyer had allegedly threatened the life of Bam Bam and his family members if he refused to cooperate.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/25749-former-paramilitary-claims-he-was-bribed-to-testify-against-court-officials.html