The Third Prosecutor’s Office delegated to the Sole Court of the Specialized Circuit of Sincelejo announced the sentence in which Juan David Díaz Chamorro was acquitted, considering that there was no evidence of his guilt in crimes for which he was accused by paramilitaries.
On March 17, 2022, the investigation of the case against the doctor and spokesman for the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes -MOVICE- Juan David Díaz Chamorro, who had been accused of being a co-perpetrator of aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime and aggravated homicide, was precluded, by demobilized paramilitaries of the self-styled Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia -AUC- (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) Wilson Anderson Herrera Rojas (alias Gafas) and Edelmiro Alberto Anaya González (alias El Chino Anaya), who committed crimes in the department of Sucre.
“This decision is important because it confirms that everything was a lie. They have sought to dishonor Juan David Díaz with this and other processes, claiming that he was a paramilitary, not only did they murder his father, torture him and disappear him for denouncing corruption in Sucre, when he was mayor of El Roble, but also for seeking the truth and justice he received many threats. He was in exile and now he had to endure these judicial processes that affect his good name“, said Yessika Hoyos, lawyer of Juan David Díaz and member of Cajar.
Because of his work as a human rights defender and his status as a victim of a State crime, Juan David Díaz has been the victim of constant attacks, including judicial montages that have affected his good name. In February 2021, he had already been acquitted of another frame-up against him sponsored by demobilized members of the AUC, in which it was determined that the accusations were lies and also contained a viciousness of revenge.
It should be recalled that Diaz’s father, Eudaldo ‘Tito’ Diaz, former mayor of El Roble, Sucre, was murdered on April 10, 2003 at the hands of paramilitary groups, events in which Salvador Arana Sus, governor of Sucre for 2001-2003, was involved. The Attorney General’s Office established his collaboration with the Montes de María Block of the AUC and that there was a deviation of state resources to finance these groups. For these facts, for which he admitted responsibility, Arana was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) admitted the case of the former Mayor of El Roble after the Diaz family filed a petition on November 19, 2019, on behalf of the Cajar. The IACHR established that it was competent to hear the case, due to the inaction of the justice system in Colombia, since 19 years after the events occurred, it has not investigated, tried and punished those involved.
On the other hand, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) admitted ex-governor Arana as an agent of the state external to the security forces and recognized Juan David Díaz as a victim. During Arana’s submission hearings before the SJP, Juan David and his lawyer Sebastián Escobar, a member of Cajar, were threatened through telephone calls. In the past, Juan David has been the victim of threats on multiple occasions for his activism in the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes and his search for justice in the case of the former mayor of El Roble.
