Colombia’s highest court indicted the president on Friday Gustavus Petro of generating “institutional instability” and “misinterpreting” the Constitution after the president claimed to be the “boss” of the Attorney General.
Petro “ignores judicial autonomy and independence, a fundamental clause of Colombian democracy,” the Supreme Court said in a statement.
The leftist president has been battling for months against the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosawho opposes his proposals to give criminal benefits to drug traffickers in exchange for their disarmament and submission to justice.
Following the statements, Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa announced this Friday that his family will leave the country following statements by President Gustavo Petro, who has sparked controversy by assuring that he is the direct boss of that officer.
On Monday, the digital newspaper La Nueva Prensa reportedly denounced that The prosecutor’s office has filed investigations into massacres by the Clan del Golfo, the country’s largest drug cartel.
Petro took to Twitter to ask for an explanation and at the end of a visit to Spain this Friday, he assured that Barbosa is under his command.
Article 115 of the national constitution designates the president of the republic elected by popular mandate as head of state, head of government and supreme administrative authority.
I didn’t break my word or the constitution in my answer to the prosecutor who in turn told me… https://t.co/fYVxvjQIFa
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 5, 2023
“The prosecutor forgets one thing that the Constitution prescribes: I am the head of state, so his head,” he admitted to journalists.
The Court noted “with great concern Petro’s misinterpretation” of the constitutional article on the autonomy of the judiciary.
“Ignoring or misinterpreting the foundations of our rule of law creates uncertainty, fragmentation and institutional instability,” the text adds.
fear for his family
Barbosa intensified his criticism of the country’s first left-wing president: “If the president of the republic is the head of the country’s attorney general, then he would in fact be the head of all the courts, the judges and the prosecutors in Colombia,” he said. Caracol television.
Petro “is changing his democrat’s suit and starting to put on a dictator’s suit,” he added.
Barbosa later denounced Petro’s tweets as endangering prosecutors and assured that he brought his family members out of Colombia “for fear they would be killed”.
Prior to taking power, Petro was one of Barbosa’s strongest critics, coming to prosecute after being chosen by the Supreme Court from a shortlist presented by former right-wing president Iván Duque (2018-2022).
Source: Eluniverso
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
