“This Tuesday [April 30] the Tenth Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Bogotá convicted former deputy director of the DAS [defunct Colombian intelligence department], Emiro Rojas Granados, and former agent Néstor Javier Pachón Bermúdez for illegal surveillance and harassment, which amounted to aggravated torture of journalist Claudia Julieta Duque Orrego.
According to the 226-page ruling, because of the investigations carried out by the journalist on the murder of Jaime Garzón Forero, revealing the alleged participation of the DAS in this crime, she and her family were victims of persecution and constant threats by the DAS.
[…] The court rules that it was proven that the former deputy director of the DAS was responsible for the crimes of continued aggravated torture and conspiracy to commit a crime, for which it sentenced him to 174 months in prison, which translates into 14.5 years in prison.”
