After the ruling of the Investigation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, which determined to issue an international arrest warrant against former Senator Arturo Char Chaljub, for alleged acts of electoral corruption and vote buying during the campaign for Congress in 2018, his brother, the candidate for Mayor of Barranquilla, Álex Char, spoke about it.
Through the social network X (Twitter), the man who seeks for the third time seeks to command the destinies of the capital of the Atlantic, after the periods of 2008-2011 and 2016-2019, spoke of the determination of the high court and showed confident that the 55-year-old politician can resolve the issues he has pending with the Colombian justice system. With which he would have ratified his intention to reach the contest.
“I fully trust my brother’s innocence, in our family we have always been respectful of judicial decisions and I am sure that with the team of lawyers all the necessary and compelling evidence will be presented to clarify this situation. There is no sentence here, the process is still in the investigation phase, ”said Álex Char in his profile.
Char, who leads with 68% the intention to vote with a view to the elections on October 29, 2023, according to the survey published on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 by the National Consulting Center, is once again dotted with this scandal, which —according to judicial experts— could put his candidacy at risk.
According to the Supreme Court ruling, the facts under investigation correspond to the alleged agreement to carry out a massive purchase of votes in the department of Atlántico, which would have materialized in October 2017, and which sought to favor Merlano and its formula, Lilibeth Llinás; as well as guaranteeing the re-election of the union, who later became president of Congress.
“Crimes against the mechanisms of democratic participation would have been carried out, through the purchase of votes for these three candidates,” said the Court in the order issued, in which mention is made of the elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives, which were held on March 11, 2018, and which were favorable, at that time, to the candidates.
Miguel Ángel del Río requested the resignation of Álex Char from his candidacy
In this regard, after knowing the decision of the high court, the lawyer of former senator Aida Merlano, Miguel Ángel del Río Malo, attacked Álex Char and said that he must renounce his aspiration to the mayoralty; since he would expect the same fate as her brother, since he has been pointed out by her client in the corruption network that led her to Congress in 2018.
“As we warned at the time, an arrest warrant against Arturo Char by the Court for the testimonies of Aida Merlano. The possible evasion of justice justified the measure”, the lawyer published on his X (Twitter) account, in relation to the decision of the high court of Arturo Char.
And then, very much in his style, he issued a strong warning to the current candidate, who would seem to have no rival in the bid to become mayor. “The myth that Aida Merlano has no proof is over. Now we are going for Alejandro, her brother, ”remarked the lawyer, who assumed the defense of the woman upon her return to Colombia, after being deported on March 10, 2023 from Venezuela, where she had been detained since 2019. With Infobae
