[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter more than eight years in a military barrack, Colombia’s Col. Alfonso Plazas Vega walked free.
On Wednesday, the nation’s Constitutional Court overturned a conviction that found the senior military officer guilty of involvement in the forced disappearance of left-wing militants during the infamous 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá.
He had been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
“It ended my military career,” remarked a retired Col. Plazas Vega Wednesday after the high court’s decision. Plazas was passed over for a military promotion a few years after the Palace of Justice raid, and retired in 1992.
“I must recognize that the work of reviewing the case in its entirety is a demonstration of professionalism, patriotism and bravery,” he continued. “It is a recognition of the work of the public forces.”
Representatives of the victims who were killed or disappeared during the two-day attack were not convinced of the high court’s decision. “The only thing that this decision shows is the perversity of justice in Colombia,” said attorney Jorge Molano, who represents victims of the palace siege.
On November 6th 1985, some 40 M-19 guerrillas stormed Colombia’s Palace of Justice, which houses the Constitutional Court, and held more than 400 people hostage. The Colombian army responded with a powerful show of force, sending in tanks, helicopters and hundreds of soldiers.
Hostages and government workers were caught in the fray. At least 100 people died during the bloody siege and 12 were unaccounted for.
Last year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights convicted Colombia’s government of failing to prevent civilian deaths, detaining, torturing and killing civilians and failing to disclose what happened, among other things.
Since that court’s decision, the Colombian Attorney General’s office opened investigations against several senior military officials.
President Juan Manuel Santos publicly apologized for the government’s involvement in the palace siege during an official ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the attack last month.
The conviction of Col. Plazas Vega, who oversaw the effort to retake the palace, had been the only high profile move to hold a military official accountable. Plazas maintained his innocence throughout the trial and during his years in prison.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court ruled 5-3 that there was insufficient evidence to maintain his conviction.
“What I am remembering today with every affection is the crest of the Republic of Colombia, which says ‘Liberty and Order,’” said Plazas on Thursday morning as he was left the barracks that had housed him.
Col. Plazas’ release came hours after the negotiating teams of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and government sealed an historic deal on reparations and justice for the victims of the more than 50-year conflict in Colombia.
