Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera affirmed on 8 July that coordinated work with the National Attorney-General’s Office and the judicial branch will be strengthened, in order to make it possible for evidence gathered during operations by government forces against all terrorist and criminal organizations to be admissible in court
Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera affirmed on 8 July that coordinated work with the National Attorney-General’s Office and the judicial branch will be strengthened, in order to make it possible for evidence gathered during operations by government forces against all terrorist and criminal organizations to be admissible in court.
“That challenge requires us to constantly seek more education and better coordination with the judicial branch at all levels, so that the evidence that we are gathering in each of the operations conducted by our government forces against FARC narco-terrorism can be weighed and accepted,” Rivera indicated.
The minister also said that criminal and narco-terrorist groups have evolved by crossing traditional borders, which has made it necessary to confront them hand-in-hand with the international community.
“Transnational crime, and most especially terrorism, does not acknowledge borders today, and borders cannot be used as protection for criminals, and still less for terrorists … For that reason, we’ve been reaching agreement on legal tools and binational security plans with all the countries on our borders,” the high-ranking official affirmed.
Finally, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera congratulated the fifteen thousand men and women who today make up the Judicial Police Directorate (DIJIN), for their bravery, professionalism, and sacrifice, demonstrated in all their operations throughout the fifty-eight years of existence of this elite bureau within the National Police.
“Allow me once more to offer you my congratulations and express to you the immense pride that I feel as defense minister and as a fellow citizen, as a Colombian, as a result of the extraordinary performance of all our National Police, but most especially of those fifteen thousand men and women who endeavor to see to it that all the sacrifices made by our institutions in the fight against crime bear fruit and multiply.”