Is the lawyer of Aida Merlano speaking, will the former deputy return to Colombia?

Lawyer Miguel Ángel del Río is about to board a plane at Bogotá’s El Dorado Airport. Your flight is destined for Panama but it is only a stopover. Indeed goes to Caracas, Venezuela, to meet his client, former senator Aida Merlano.

The lawyer Miguel Ángel del Río speaks

• River Doctor,what is your opinion on the 90-month sentence under house arrest for your also client Aída Victoria Merlano, the 23-year-old daughter of the former senator?

“In reality, unsatisfactory, apart from the fact that the Prosecutor’s Office asked at the time between 15 and 17 years and that he was granted the benefit of house arrest, it is not satisfactory for us.

It is not satisfactory because in the decision the judge of the hearing cannot explain, nor the Prosecutor in his instance, why Aida Victoria exploits her brotherhe cannot explain to us where the mischievous attitude towards his brother is, he never explains the causal link between Aida Victoria’s concrete contribution and her mother’s flight.

Only indicative elements of very low profile, slight indications, because among other things, each of the conclusions that the judge draws can be due to other factors, nor does it refer to our theory in understanding that he gets out of prison with all the elements and there it was a lack of rigor and management by the Inpec guard, a very free decision for us which will obviously be challenged and we hope that the court can revoke it“.

• The impression is that this is not the big case against Aida Victoria, the Prosecutor assures that they have evidence against her to accuse her of illicit enrichment and money laundering, How do you prepare to defend him in that process?

“This process is as small as the otherthe other has even less argumentative capacity than this and we have prepared like all the trials, we understand that the Prosecutor had requested an arrest warrant in that trial and no guarantee control judge accepted it.

We are awaiting the decision, the accusation to deliver a copy of the letters with which the investigation began, a copy of the complaint. The information we have is that these are events, not money laundering but illicit enrichment, only enrichment.

We are waiting for an interview with the prosecutor, the Prosecutor has got used to first capturing and then asking, in an investigative element what he has to do is request that the suspect provide evidence. With Aída Victoria Merlano and her mother, the Prosecutor’s Office wanted to show off in all criminal proceedings“.

• What is the purpose of your trip to Caracas?

“The aim is to bring Aida Merlano Rebolledowe remember that in the government of President Duque he threatened us for four years that he would extradite her and asked permission from Juan Guaidó, a figure that it is not known if he is president or ordinary citizen and obviously there has not been given a satisfactory answer to the request.

Once relations with Caracas are established, it becomes absolutely peremptory that Aida Merlano return to Colombia, tell us the truth of things and face justice. It is time for the truth to be told in Colombia, the mafia clans are still at large, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Char family, the escape operation was rigorously orchestrated by Alejandro Char and his family.

Today we have convicted and sentenced his mother and daughter and the Gerlein mafia clan and all the vote buyers in the Caribbean are free and die of laughter and prepare for elections in a year, it is unacceptable, Aida has to come here to tell the truth and establish her criminal responsibility“.

• Can you return from Venezuela with Dr. Aida on a commercial plane?

“I would like to be able to get off the plane, take it out and bring it back, we are in an exploratory phase to look at the tools and instruments available, we need to talk to the two governments. It will be a formal transition from the Venezuelan government to the Colombian government.

The prosecutor felt that using justice to attack opponents was a legitimate exercise, but We will demonstrate that bringing Aida from Venezuela is essential, the evidence has already been in the Prosecutor’s Office for three years and no prosecutor has wanted to move the filewe had all the disposition for the truth to be established ”.

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