Colombian legal developments involving former governor and terrorism suspect

Former La Guajira governor Jorge Pérez Bernier is expected to be released from La Picota prison in Bogotá. His release follows a Constitutional Court decision regarding his fundamental rights to personal liberty and due process. This decision comes after the Supreme Court of Justice sentenced him to 22 years in prison in a first-instance corruption case. The release does not imply acquittal, as the judicial process regarding his corruption charges continues.

In a separate legal matter, Cleiver Jesús Pérez Sánchez has been ordered into prison by a court in Barranquilla. He is accused of participating in the placement of a gas cylinder and an ELN flag on a bridge in Barranquilla on October 8. The prosecution has charged him with aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime, terrorism, and aggravated possession of explosives. While the prosecution alleges he was forming an urban front for the ELN, police are investigating a hypothesis that he may be a member of the Los Costeños gang using ELN symbols as a diversion.