colombianherald.com

Jair Valencia, a member of the Jaime Martínez structure of the FARC dissidents, was sentenced to 22 years and 2 months in prison after accepting his responsibility for the murder of at least 19 people in different rural areas of Valle del Cauca. The sentence was issued by a judge who endorsed a preliminary judicial agreement presented by the Attorney General’s Office.

According to the investigation, Valencia participated in three collective homicides that occurred between 2020 and 2021 in the towns of La Meseta and Villacolombia in the municipalities of Jamundí and Restrepo, events that left 14 victims, including a minor.

In addition, he is held responsible for the forced disappearance and subsequent death of two people, including a member of the National Army, whose body was found in a grave in the El Placer village, in Dagua, on August 23, 2021.

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The convicted man was also found responsible for three other individual homicides: the murder of two mining workers in Jamundí, which occurred on March 15, 2021, and the death of a foreign citizen, recorded on June 29, 2020 in the same area.

Valencia must serve the entire sentence in a penitentiary center, without access to sentence reduction benefits. The crimes for which he was convicted include aggravated homicide, attempted aggravated homicide, forced disappearance, as well as manufacture, trafficking and possession of firearms and ammunition for restricted and exclusive use of the Armed Forces, and explosives.

The Prosecutor’s Office highlighted that the conviction was achieved thanks to the collection of evidence that demonstrated the direct participation of the convicted person in the violent events, reiterating the commitment of the authorities to the prosecution of members of illegal armed groups that affect security and coexistence in Valle del Cauca.

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