The World Today
Rejects Bogotá's extradition request, calling it an "unfriendly, aggressive" gesture
Petro asks Ortega to "reconsider" the protection of a person for whom there are "well-founded reasons to believe he has committed crimes."
MADRID, 21 (EUROPA PRESS)
Nicaraguan authorities granted political asylum on Wednesday to Carlos Ramón González, former director of the Colombian Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE) under Gustavo Petro, rejecting Bogotá's extradition request for his involvement in a serious corruption scandal.
"According to the asylum seeker, he did so because of his political career as a leftist and revolutionary leader, his role in shaping the current government, and his closeness to current President Gustavo Petro, who was his comrade in the M-19 guerrilla group. He has been the target of political, judicial, and media persecution driven by the Colombian far right," reads a document from the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry.
The diplomatic ministry asserts that González has also alleged "a systematic smear campaign in the media, provoking direct threats against his life and that of his family," while denouncing that the legal proceedings against him lack "real evidence" and "legal support."
The former high-ranking Colombian official thus stated that "the imminent imposition of a preventive detention measure involving deprivation of liberty in Colombian prisons puts his life, liberty, and personal integrity at risk."
The Daniel Ortega government has communicated its decision to the Colombian authorities in a separate document, citing the Nicaraguan Constitution, the American Convention on Human Rights, and international resolutions on asylum.
Colombian Interior Minister Armando Benedetti has expressed his rejection of Managua's measure, a gesture he considered "unfriendly." "If the president (Petro) requests extradition from someone, from any country, where treaties exist, and that country doesn't respond to the extradition request, it's unfriendly, aggressive, and shouldn't happen. It will have to be reviewed," he said in statements reported by W Radio.
Subsequently, the Colombian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice issued a joint statement expressing their disagreement with the asylum granted to González, noting that this right cannot be applied to individuals with "well-founded grounds that they have committed common crimes or that legal action has been brought against them arising from such crimes," as is the case with the former Colombian government advisor.
Thus, they have considered that Nicaragua's decision "disregards the provisions of the Extradition Treaty" signed between the two countries in 1929, by which "both agreed to mutually surrender persons prosecuted or convicted in one of their countries."
Therefore, Bogotá has asked Managua to reconsider "revoking said international protection" in light of the evidence provided by the Colombian Prosecutor's Office against González, to whom it has assured "it will provide all procedural guarantees."
Carlos Ramón González is facing charges from the Colombian Prosecutor's Office for bribery for "giving or offering to launder money by appropriation for third parties" in the corruption scandal affecting the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD).
The agency maintains that González allegedly played a key role in planning and executing cash transfers, taking advantage of his position and connections within the government, in a case involving irregularities in three contracts with the state entity totaling 92 billion pesos (approximately 20 million euros ).
