Alberto Santofimio convicted in '89 Galan killing

Ex-Colombian justice minister convicted in '89 killing

* Story Highlights
* Former justice minister Alberto Santofimio was sentenced to 24 years in prison
* Ex-official convicted in assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan
* Santofimio ordered hit squad belonging to drug kingpin Pablo Escobar

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A former justice minister was convicted Thursday of masterminding the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan, a cartel-fighting politician.

Alberto Santofimio was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a Bogota court for ordering a hit squad belonging to drug kingpin Pablo Escobar to kill Galan in 1989 to boost his own candidacy and prevent Escobar's extradition to the United States.

"This ruling reaffirms our belief as a nation in the justice system, that the participation of politicians in the murder of my father won't go unpunished," Sen. Juan Manuel Galan told The Associated Press.

Santofimio's trial, which began in 2006, was one of the most watched in decades here, involving the testimony of three former presidents and a former television diva who was Escobar's lover.

But the prosecution's star witness was John Jairo Velasquez, the ruthless head of Escobar's army of assassins, who testified wearing in a bulletproof vest. He said he was at a meeting where Santofimio urged Escobar to arrange Galan's assassination.

"He was 100 percent calm," Velasquez told RCN TV in an interview from prison last year. "He was removing a political enemy from his path."

Santofimio was running for the Liberal Party nomination against Galan, whose charisma and perceived moral rectitude drew comparisons to John F. Kennedy. Escobar and members of his Medellin cartel feared Galan's victory would mean their extradition from Colombia to the United States.

The 63-year old Santofimio, who was a senator and justice minister in the 1970s, was known as the "political godfather" of Escobar. In 1995, he was convicted and spent four years in prison for taking money from drug traffickers.

He has been jailed since he was charged in 2005 in the Galan assassination.

Juan Manuel Galan said he hoped Santofimio would reveal details about other cartel-linked politicians and state security agents that may have also participated in his father's murder.

"He's got lot left to explain," Galan said.

Before Escobar was killed by police in 1993, cartel assassins killed scores of judges, an attorney general, Cabinet ministers, journalists and police as part of a terror campaign to prevent his extradition to the United States. Hundreds of other Colombians died in cartel bomb attacks in Bogota and Medellin.

Galan, who was shot and killed while campaigning south of Bogota, was so far ahead in the polls for the 1990 presidential elections that he was virtually assured of victory. His campaign manager, Cesar Gaviria, ran in his place after the attack and was elected president.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/10/11/colombia.conviction.ap/in...

By juancegomez on Oct 11, 2007, 13:55 in Politics & the war.

dwmte7 says on Oct 11, 2007, 14:19:

por fin!!!

had galan not been assassinated, gaviria would not have become president. and it was because gaviria became president and had gone to school in my home town in california, that i came to colombia in the first place. the enaugural ceremonies were basically a bore, but it did get me to medallo....and except for going back and forth a bit, i haven't left.

dwmte

dwmte7 says on Oct 11, 2007, 14:19:

dwmte

dwmte7 says on Oct 11, 2007, 14:19:

dwmte

billyb says on Oct 11, 2007, 14:45:

Wasn't it Popeye, Escobar's top hitman, that fingered Santofimio?

juancegomez says on Oct 11, 2007, 14:52:

John Jairo Velasquez equals "Popeye" as far as I know.

billyb says on Oct 11, 2007, 15:02:

I guess he would use his proper name in court.

robi666 says on Oct 11, 2007, 18:29:

Alberto Santofimio: "Matalo, Pablo... matalo!"
(From the book "El verdadero Pablo" de las confesiones de Alias Popeye)

Did you read it? Quite interesting, more than the classic Mark Bowden's "Killing Pablo"

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

elregaloperfecto.com says on Oct 11, 2007, 22:00:

what happened today is shameful, it's ridiculous. since when does saying "you have to eliminate him" make you a murderer? only in colombia. since when does escobar take orders from others?

santofimio may have said something to the effect of "you have to get rid of him" but i'm sorry, that does not make him akiller, he did not pull the trigger, he did not hire the gunmen, he did not not plan the murder. the truth is they are using santofimio as a scapegoat, this is such a political decision and don't get me wrong, i don't even know santofimio, i'm just sad that the colombian justice system takes the words of 'popeye' at face value. popeye stands to gain a lot from these 'confessions' i.e. a shorter sentence in jail

robi666 says on Oct 12, 2007, 05:10:

Nonetheless, he was urging Escobar to do it, helped him, he was a guide for him in his political life and he knew perfectly what it was going on.
No, he did not pull the trigger, and?
No, he is not Escobar, but is he an innocent person?
Would you rather have him still seated at his place in the senate?

billyb says on Oct 12, 2007, 06:39:

Robi, do you happen to know if the book you mention above is available on Amazon?

robi666 says on Oct 12, 2007, 06:57:

uhm, I have it in spanish and bought it here...
a google search and...
http://www.amazon.com/El-Verdadero-Pablo-Astrid-Legarda/dp/9589760473

Colombiche says on Oct 12, 2007, 07:09:

It's about time they convicted that scum bucket. He got away with murder (literally) for too long.

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

billyb says on Oct 12, 2007, 11:12:

thanks Robi.

robi666 says on Oct 12, 2007, 11:20:

Actually, if you read the book, Escobar appears to be unsure about killing Galan, and Santofimio to be the one pushing him to do it.

Of course you have to believe the book...