Key witness in anti-Pablo Escobar presidential candidate murder trial arrested
Key witness in anti-Pablo Escobar presidential candidate murder trial arrested
Posted by Stephen Gill on Apr 5, 2016
Authorities on Monday captured a former official of Colombia’s now-defunct intelligence agency for his relation to the 1989 murder of anti-Pablo Escobar presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan.
Hector Ernesto Muñoz, known as “The Witch,” was arrested in Colombia’s Santander province, amid alleged knowledge of the disappearance of a colleague who had worked with the Medellin Cartel to kill Galan.
DAS official Orlando Monroy, alias “Ragman” was killed only days after the murder of the presidential candidate..
“Ragman” who served as DAS detective during the eighties was stated to have strong links with drug cartels and illegal armed groups and was said to have been involved in the assassination of the former presidential hopeful in August 1989.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/key-witness-anti-pablo-escobar-presidential-candidate-murder-trial-arrested/
[center]
Luis Carlos Galan
[/center]
Earlier article re: assassination of this progressive Colombian politician:
Colombia general on trial over Luis Carlos Galan murder
1 June 2015
A retired police general is going on trial in Colombia for his alleged role in the 1989 murder of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan.
Gen Miguel Maza Marquez was the head of Colombia's now defunct spy agency DAS at the time of Mr Galan's murder.
Mr Galan was shot dead on 18 August 1989 as he walked onto a stage to address a crowd in the town of Soacha.
Prosecutors accuse Gen Maza of conspiring with a drugs cartel to murder Mr Galan, which he denies.
Death threats
The murder of Mr Galan in front of thousands of people rocked Colombia.
The liberal politician campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and was a favourite to win the 1990 election.
Mr Galan made powerful enemies when he said that if elected he would have drug traffickers extradited to the United States.
Colombian drug traffickers, who often enjoyed special, sometimes luxurious treatment in Colombian jails, feared extradition to US jails.
Mr Galan had received a number of death threats against himself and his family in the run-up to his murder.
Prosecutors allege Gen Maza played a role in Mr Galan's killing by reducing his security detail and replacing his experienced chief of security with someone relatively new to the task.
More:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-32957840
