Prosecutor's Office receives alert for possible attack on prosecutor Angelica María Monsalve

The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation received an alert from the SIU-Dijin Special Investigation Unit assuring that there would be a plan to attack Maria Angelica Monsalve. The National Police informed the judiciary that, “a criminal organization intends to carry out a possible attack to affect the physical integrity” of the prosecutor delegated to Circuit Judges of the Bogotá Sectional Directorate.

As soon as the alert arrived, the Public Prosecutor's Office informed the official of the situation as soon as possible. He also assigned a security scheme to Monsalve immediately, preventively and extraordinarily through the Department of Protection and Assistance of the judiciary.

In the statement issued by the Prosecutor's Office, it was reiterated to public opinion that, “it does not accept any interference in the exercise of the function of its prosecutors and always protects all its servants from situations that endanger their lives and integrity”.

The reasons behind the threat

The National Police alert comes after the prosecutor summoned businessmen Carlos and Javier Ríos Velilla, and their nephew, Felipe Ríos Londoño, to indictment.

According to the prosecutor's statements, Carlos and Francisco Ríos would be the real owners of a company that was left with a millionaire tender for the collection of TransMilenio. This would have happened when Felipe Ríos ruled as councilman of Bogotá, the city in which the mass transportation system operates.

The issue is complicated, as Alberto Ríos Velilla, a renowned Colombian businessman, close to the leader of Radical Change Vargas Lleras and husband of journalist Darcy Quiin, contacted former Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez to intercede in the matter.

Martínez allegedly spoke with the rector of Sergio Arboleda University, Rodrigo Noguera, to convince Monsalve, not to charge the Rios. This conversation became known on W Radio, and the prosecutor refuses to help him and claims that it would be “influence trafficking”.

For his part, on April 1, Néstor Humberto Martínez assured that he did not intervene to organize an appointment between prosecutor Angelica Monsalve and the accused. At the same time, he clarified that he sent or handed over “a paper” suggesting to the official that there was no reason for such an accusation. The former prosecutor stressed that he only facilitated the appointment, in which, he says, he did not attend.

“There was never a “summit” between Alberto Ríos, Rodrigo Noguera and the subscriber. Nor have I talked about it with Dr. Catalina Noguera,” said the former prosecutor in a press release that was sent to various media outlets.

In Context: Néstor Humberto Martínez Denies Trafficking in Influence in the Case of Former Councilman Felipe Ríos

It should be recalled that the Prosecutor's Office reported that Angelica Monsalve Gaviria was relocated due to the needs of the service in the Putumayo Sectional Directorate through Resolution No. 1232 of March 14, 2022, on which the server filed an appeal for replacement on March 29, 2022.

Faced with the transfer, some pointed out that the event was a retaliation; however, the Prosecutor's Office stated that it was due to the needs of the service, as did the 3,000 staff members who performed it during the administration of Prosecutor Barbosa. They also indicated that regarding the Monsalve case it will continue with it: “We have never considered the possibility of varying the respective allocation”, added the judicial body.

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