- Alberto Santofimio
Alberto Santofimio Botero is a Colombian politician member of the
Colombian Liberal Party .
He has beenMinister of Justice , a two-time presidential candidate and a senator.
He was considered to be on close terms with famed drug lord,Pablo Escobar .In the 90's, Santofimio was arrested and charged with receiving money from drug trafficking in order to support his campaign for the presidency of Colombia.
He was released after serving a short term prison sentence.The Assassination of Luis Carlos Galán
During the investigations about the brutal assassination of
Luis Carlos Galán , Santofimio was mentioned many times in reference to the planning of the crime.On
May 12 ,2005 , Santofimio was captured by the police for participating in the1989 murder of ex-presidential candidateLuis Carlos Galán .John Jairo Velásquez, alias "Popeye", one of Pablo Escobar's most trusted "henchmen" and head of the assassins of the
Medellín Cartel , alleged that Santofimio was partly responsible for the planning of Galan's assassination. Velásquez also accused Santofimio of having participated in the attempted assassinations ofCésar Gaviria andAndrés Pastrana Arango , and in the planning of the murder ofRodrigo Lara Bonilla (Minister of Justice in 1984).In July
2006 ,Virginia Vallejo , the former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Colombian_journalists television anchor woman] who was romantically involved with [http://www.lovingpablo.com Pablo Escobar] from1983 to1987 , accused Santofimio of instigating Escobar in her presence, at least on three occasions between 1983 and 1985, [http://www.virginiavallejo.com/mp3.html to eliminate senator Galán] . Her offer to testify against Santofimio, made to the Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguarán, was ignored by the judge of the case, who closed it two days later.On
October 11 2007 the court verdict for Santofimio was guilty as charged for his participation in the assassination of Galan, and he was sentenced to 24 years in prison. . [ [http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/juez_pablo_escobar_1003353.htm Juez desestima testimonio de ex amante de Pablo Escobar] ]References
External Links
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4542595.stm Ex-Colombia minister held for murder]
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20050513-1517-colombia-assassinationarrest.html Colombian accused of killing presidential candidate Galán]
* [http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2006/06/28/colombian_on_trial_for_candidates_death/ Colombian on Trial for candidate’s death]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-05-12-columbia-arrest_x.htm Santofimio captured on charge of murder]
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