A prominent paramilitary warlord wanted in the U.S. on drug charges walked out of a Colombian jail Friday, becoming the first major paramilitary boss to earn freedom as part of a decade-old peace deal.
Rodrigo Perez-Alzate, better known by his alias Julian Bolivar, was among some 30,000 right-wing fighters who surrendered in 2006 in exchange for a government promise of reduced prison sentences.
He was released from a maximum security jail near Medellin after completing the maximum eight years stipulated in the peace framework law for former militia members who confess their war crimes to prosecutors and compensate victims.
The top leaders of his paramilitary group, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, were extradited to the U.S. in 2008. But Perez-Alzate and other lieutenants and sub-commanders were spared a U.S. jail cell and are in line to be freed in the coming months.
Victim groups say many of those slated to go free aren't fully co-operating with prosecutors and should remain behind bars.
Colombia's Supreme Court has also questioned Perez-Alzate's refusal to provide testimony against politicians who are believed to have received electoral support from voters in the turbulent Middle Magdalena valley that he and his fighters once dominated.
Although Perez-Alzate is wanted by a Florida court on charges of smuggling cocaine into the U.S., President Juan Manuel Santos in March denied the American extradition request, arguing that the militia leader was co-operating with Colombian prosecutors.
The decision was seen as a nod to leftist rebels who also face U.S. drug charges and may be wary of signing a peace deal with the government if threatened with jail time in the United States.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.