Congressman Inti Asprilla denounced that an informal seller in Bogotá has been fined $20 million

On March 23, through social networks, the representative of the Green Party, Inti Asprilla, reported that a street vendor has a fine of 20'900,000 pesos for the payment of 89 cases related to her way of working and that it may cost her to seize her goods, since on the police website it can be seen that the annotation is for obstruction of public space.

“An informal saleswoman with 20 million pesos in comparenda in the city of Bogotá for working. You have just been notified of the seizure of your assets!! What answer does the mayor @ClaudiaLopez and @PoliciaBogota give?” , the senator wrote on Twitter and emphasized in his networks that it is inadmissible for the mayor's office to allow informal sellers to be appealed for an article that was declared exequitable.

According to the saleswoman, who identified herself as Jenny Barrera on a Facebook Live led by the representative and who works as a street vendor at the Tunal Portal selling commentables and drinks, she is deeply concerned that the notes made by the police have been made since 2018 and until now she had noticed because the authorities did not notify him in advance of these entries.

“In the Tunal Portal they ask us for the ID and take a picture of it; and from there we (the street vendors) have had more comparendas than before. This without having signed them, without even telling us if they are going to appeal them. Since a senior is asking for a quota of comparenda from them,” noted the affected woman.

Due to the Jenny Barrera case, Rep. Inti Asprilla called on street vendors to check whether such statements appear in his name “which have no legal basis” and that would be significantly affecting people who live off informal work.

In the country, informal vendors have reported multiple abuses by the police, another of the most recent ones occurred in the Atlantic where two uniformed men beat a street vendor in the municipality of Sabanalarga, since, apparently, they found the value they were charged for what was consumed expensive.

Witnesses to the attack reported that one of the policemen was meeting the fritos merchant and, when the latter told them the price to be paid — 15,000 pesos — he was upset. Subsequently, he started a discussion between both parties and triggered a fight, in which the seller, who was part of the elderly, resulted in injuries to his face. Among these, a wound on his left eye and several bruises were evident, based on the photos that were used as part of the complaint.

The police commander of the department, Colonel Edwin Rojas, specified that one of the uniformed personnel is attached to the Campo de la Cruz station, and when the facts occurred he had permission. However, according to the version given to Blu Radio, the other was on rest: “The uniformed man telephoned his brother, who is also a policeman, to make a presence on the spot.”

Likewise, the public servant affirmed that the investigations have already been opened and, when the complaint is processed, the two alleged aggressors will be suspended from their posts. The institution added that it “is providing all the elements required by the Attorney General's Office, which initiated the criminal investigation” for personal injury.

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