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FARC political party of Colombia says it is committed to the nation’s peace accords after its Congressman Jesus Santrich fails to show at Supreme Court.
The People's Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) political party of Colombia released a statement Tuesday saying it is committed to the nation’s 2015-signed peace accords after its Congressman Jesus Santrich did not show up at a Supreme Court of Justice hearing.
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The FARC party makes clear in its statement it will comply with all the points of the agreement signed by the former government under Manuel Santos and the now-disarmed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (also FARC) that went into effect in 2016 to end the country’s over-50-year civil conflict.
"Our party believes that the Havana Agreements, apart from building a historical milestone of singular importance for the future of the country, are a sacred commitment that we acquired with the State, the Colombian people and the international community," says a part of the communique.
The party tweeted: #declaration. Jesus Santrich’s no-show today in the morning in front of the @CorteSupremaJ, is very grave.”
Seuxis Paucias Hernandez Solarte, aka, Jesus Santrich, a FARC commander turned legislator, was scheduled to appear in front of the nation’s highest court July 9 to testify about 2018 allegations from the United States government accusing the peace deal signatory of drug trafficking after the accords were signed.
Two of his lawyers arrived at the Supreme Court in Bogota Tuesday, announcing they did not know the whereabout of their client. One of his lawyers said Santrich fears all the media and political hype that has developed around this case.
FARC party stresses that despite right-wing President Ivan Duque’s unwillingness to follow through on the government’s duties regarding the agreement, the politicians will continue to do all it can to implement the United Nations-backed deal.
Santrich was illegally detained in May in Bogota in connection to the U.S. allegations for narcotics trafficking, but was finally released under Supreme Court order.
On Tuesday, the Special Chamber of Instruction of the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Santrich for his non-appearance.
Fellow leftist congressman, Ivan Cepeda Castro, tweeted of the incident: "The non-attendance of Jesus Santrich to the investigation scheduled by the Supreme Court of Justice today is not only a serious breach of the Peace Agreement, it is also a breach of the thousands of ex-guerrillas who are committed to building peace.
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