Santiago Murillo's family, concerned about delays in the proceedings against the policeman accused of the homicide

At the Clínica Nuestra in Ibagué, on May 2, the young 19-year-old Santiago Andrés Murillo died, who had been taken to that hospital because of a gunshot wound, amid the social demonstrations that took place in the country.

The shot that killed him and hit him in the chest, according to witnesses, family and friends, came out of a policeman's firearm at the intersection of 60th Street with Race 5. Police clashes with groups of demonstrators, mostly young people, had occurred there.

On September 14 of last year, the Attorney General's Office called to trial Major Jorge Mario Molano, accused of this homicide. By the morning of this Thursday, April 7, it was planned to continue with the preparatory phase of the trial for the murder of Murillo.

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However, Molano submitted to the Third Municipal Judge of Ibagué a brief stating that he was withdrawing power from his lawyer. “I hereby express to you that it is my decision to revoke the power granted to Dr. Wilson Arley Vallejo, taking into account the hearings of March 3 and 31, 2022. He presented me with great differences that could not materialize and since my position was opposed, I consider that I have no alternative other than the one that I am taking and communicating to his office today,” Molano explained in the well-known writing El Espectador.

At the hearing, the accused policeman, who was commander of the North Station in Ibagué, gave details of the withdrawal of power: “I have the right to have a defense aligned with the parameters I have. They worry about the issue of terms and I am the one who is unfairly deprived of liberty. I want to find a defense and face what is left of the process,” he explained.

Milena Meneses, Santiago's mother, said she feels helpless to see that such events continue to occur. Against this background, he called for measures to be taken, that due process be enforced. “What we want, we hope, is that the judge does not allow this type of delay and justice is done as it should be,” he said.

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In view of this situation, the prosecutor in the case sent a document to the court asking that, “the actions that correspond to the law be taken and that his office is good enough to take, which will allow the normal conduct of the proceedings scheduled in the case at hand to be carried out, so that the continuation of the proceedings is impossible. delays on the part of the person holding the defense”.

The Prosecutor's Office added that Santiago had no chance to react, nor did he realize where the shot came from without posing a threat to anyone. “Santiago was never a threat to Jorge Mario Molano and despite that he decided to shoot and end his life.”

After that, Miguel Ángel del Río, a defender of Murillo's family, added that this is a file of national connotation and that a supposedly rigged defensive strategy would already be clear. “This is disrespect for the victims,” he said.

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