March 24 (Reuters) – Colombia’s lawyer normal on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for the highest management of the Segunda Marquetalia insurgent group over the 2025 assassination of senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe.
The warrants goal seven people, together with veteran guerrilla leaders Ivan Luciano Marin Arango and Gener Garcia Molina, higher recognized by their aliases Ivan Marquez and Jhon 40, respectively, for his or her alleged roles in what authorities termed a “magnicide” aimed toward destabilizing the nation’s democracy.
Safety sources consider Marquez and several other different suspects tied to the case to be in hiding in neighboring Venezuela.
Uribe, a member of a distinguished political household and a lawmaker for the right-wing opposition, was shot in Bogota in June 2025 as he spoke at a public marketing campaign occasion forward of elections this 12 months.
The assault was the worst outbreak of political violence in practically 20 years and evoked recollections of the turbulent years of the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, when 4 presidential candidates have been murdered in separate assaults blamed on drug cartels.
Lawyer Basic Luz Adriana Camargo mentioned the June 2025 taking pictures in Bogota was a “structured prison operation” involving a employed city gang. Investigators recognized Kendry Tellez as the first coordinator who allegedly organized a 1 billion peso ($250,000) fee for the hit throughout conferences held close to the Venezuelan border.
“The homicide of Dr. Uribe Turbay was motivated by political-instrumental causes linked to his capabilities as a senator and candidate,” Camargo mentioned, but offered no additional particulars and didn’t clarify what the political causes behind the assault may have been.
The announcement marks the ultimate section of an investigation that has already seen 9 folks prosecuted.
Amongst these convicted is Simeon Perez, sentenced to over 22 years for appearing as a liaison between the insurgent management and the city assassins. Two others obtained 21-year sentences for surveillance and logistics, whereas a 15-year-old minor, the recognized shooter, was sanctioned below juvenile legal guidelines.
The suspects face fees together with aggravated murder and conspiracy.
Segunda Marquetalia is a dissident faction of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Its leaders initially signed a 2016 peace deal however returned to arms three years later, citing unfulfilled authorities guarantees.
The group started new peace talks in 2024 as a part of President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to finish 60 years of inner battle.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski, Enhancing by Andrea Ricci )
