Prosecutor's Office charges former mayor of Manaure, La Guajira, for irregularities in registration and possession

For alleged irregularities in the registration and possession of Juan José Robles Julio as mayor of the municipality of Manaure, department of La Guajira, for the period 2020 - 2023, the Attorney General's Office filed charges against the former president of this Colombian Caribbean town.

The Public Ministry is investigating whether the former mayor incurred grounds for inability due to occupy the position as the first authority of the municipality, despite having an alleged relationship in the second degree of consanguinity, that is, if he is the brother of Carlos Arturo Robles Julio, who served between 2018 and 2021 as rector of the University of La Guajira within 12 months prior to his election.

Due to these facts, the departmental Administrative Court presented a judgment on January 15, 2021, which was confirmed by the Council of State, in which the act of election of Robles Julio as mayor of Manaure was declared null and void, and ordered the cancellation of the credential granted by the counting commission that credited as such.

The supervisory body indicates that the former president has violated paragraph 4 of article 37 of Law 617 of 2000, which states that, “He may not be registered as a candidate, nor elected, nor appointed municipal or district mayor: (...) 4. Anyone who has ties (...) of kinship up to the second degree of consanguinity, with officials who within twelve (12) months prior to the election have exercised administrative authority (...) in the respective municipality (...) '.

Likewise, the Public Prosecutor's Office indicated that at this stage of the process, the possible fault of the former president has been provisionally classified as very serious, committed as a very serious fault, for the manifest violation of mandatory rules.

For its part, the Procurator's Office of La Guajira indicated that after the investigation phase, the file will be sent to the designated office in order to advance the disciplinary trial of the former mayor, before which the subjects of the proceedings may submit disclaimers, free version and provide and request evidence and their pleadings, if they believe so pertinent.

Juan José Robles Julio, former mayor elect of Manaure, received in February 2021 three requests for electoral invalidity from lawyers Carlos Andrés Urbina Morales, Emiliano Arrieta Monterroza and Carlos Mario Isaza Serrano.

The Administrative Court of La Guajira canceled his credential that accredited him as mayor of the municipality of Manaure on that occasion. The court's ruling was in the first instance, which means that Robles Julio has the option of lodging an appeal of law to appeal the decision.

The arguments presented by the three lawyers, according to information from the newspaper El Espectador, were that Robles was “unable to run for the mayor's office of Manaure, because his brother Carlos Robles Julio, is the current rector of the University of La Guajira, and he exercises according to his criteria of civil and administrative authority in the conclusion of alma mater contracts”.

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