Supreme Court overturned his innocence for murder of journalist Nelson Karbazal

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Colombia canceled its acquittal in favor of writer and historian Fernando Bermudez Ardila for the murder of radio journalist Nelson Carvajal Carvajal Carvajal, after accepting a request from the Attorney General's Office, in preparation for the hearing.

After resolving a request for review submitted by the Criminal Prosecutor 358 of Bogotá, Cassation Chamber of the High Court, there was evidence of new evidence related to Ardilla, Bermuda, which became known after the end of the trial for the murder committed on April 16, 1998, in the municipality of Huila Pitalito.

The Ministry of Public Affairs reversed the first and second sentences of acquittal because it pointed out to a court judge that the analysis of this evidence could affect the writer's assessment of responsibility in this crime declared a crime against humanity in August 2019, when Bermudes Ardila was accused of aggravated murder.

“These testimonies, as soon as they are heard on the appointed date, respond to the qualification of new evidence without a doubt long before the ruling that is subject to review.” The Togate of Cassation Chamber is described in detail in the decision.

According to the supervisory authority, the evidence mentioned by the Supreme Court judge is the testimony of a former combatant of the demobilized FARC guerrilla who was in the process of reinstatement, and submitted to the Attorney General's Office shortly after the final verdict. Murder of the news director Momento Regional and radio magazine Mirador de la Semana, Amaneser en El Campo, and Pitalito's Radio Sur radio station Tribuna Medica.

The Human Rights Court of the Americas (IACHR) heard and discovered the case, explaining in detail that the review requested by the Attorney General was appropriate because it was an acquittal in a trial for violating human rights or international humanitarian law. “The existence of unknown evidence at the time of the debate”.

In the decision quoted by the Prosecutor's Office, the judge concluded that “only in relation to the defendant, a new element of the conviction is mentioned, so each ruled decision will be withdrawn.”

The journalist Nelson Carvajal, according to the Freedom of Press Foundation (FLIP), has put a lot of effort into monitoring local corruption issues, and he denounced the irregularity of public money management and money laundering due to drug trafficking.

A radio reporter was killed in the context of armed conflict during a period of repeated violence against those who carried out this trade in the country. However, the IACHR accused the Colombian State of the country for the murder of journalists and ordered the country to continue investigations and judicial proceedings in which the perpetrators could be judicial for these acts.

“We urge the Colombian Ministry of Justice to double its efforts to clarify the crimes of journalists and to ensure that material and intellectual authors are blamed; they urge the state to comply with other indemnities ordered by the courts of the Americas in this case and pending compliance for at least one year after the sentence.” Said IAPA President Maria Elvira Domínguez and RFK Human Rights President Kerry Kennedy.

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