RSS Feed
September 30th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : A US federal judge in Florida has ordered the extradition of Colombia’s convicted, fugitive former agriculture minister Andres Felipe Arias. The Conservative Party member was sentenced in Colombia to 17 years in prison for illegally funneling millions of dollars in agriculture subsidies to political allies.
Arias fled Colombia only weeks before his conviction. The U.S. Embassy in the Colombian capital Bogota reportedly extended Arias’ tourist visa while he was on trial, ignoring a 2004 presidential proclamation barring foreign officials suspected of corruption from entering the United States.
The convicted and fugitive Arias and his defense have claimed that the sentence was politically motivated and that the extradition treaty between Colombia and the United States was invalid. However, the U.S. federal judge in Miami, Florida, rejected the arguments of the defense and ordered Arias’ extradition. His lawyers said they would appeal. The former agriculture minister is one of many top Colombian officials currently convicted or being investigated for crimes ranging from bribery to homicide.
More are expected to be charged before a transitional justice court that is part of an ongoing peace process between the state and the now demobilized and disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP). The guerrilla that has been transformed into a legal, non-militant political party – using the acronym FARC – this year fought a civil war against the State between 1964 and 2016.
A/N – nsnbc – 30.09.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/09/30/us-federal-judge-orders-extradition-of-convicted-former-colombian-agriculture-minister/
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
