Another court orders arrest or fine for Iván Duque for contempt of court ruling

A court in Magdalena issued a fine or two days of house arrest for the president of Colombia, Ivan Dukeand the Minister of Culture, Angélica Mayolo, for contempt of a court ruling, just a few weeks after another court issued a similar measure also for contempt of court.

The administrative court of Magdalena, a Caribbean department with capital in Santa Marta, assured that “there will be room to declare the existence of contempt on the part of the aforementioned officials” and therefore imposes on each one a “sanction a fine equivalent to the value of two legal monthly minimum wages in force commutable with house arrest of two days of arrest.”

Look: Petro and Hernández measure their forces in the streets a week after elections in Colombia

This is because that same court ordered the Government on June 1 of last year to issue a decree to adopt the Fifth Centenary Master Plan of Santa Marta, which included the acts of commemoration for the 500th anniversary of the founding of this Colombian city.

Thus, the judge considered that Duque and the Minister of Culture acted in a “disrespectful and omissive” manner in relation to the mandatory compliance.

However, the Ministry of Culture assured today that “it has fully complied with the provisions contained” in the law that articulated the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the foundation of Santa Marta, as well as it has declared several sites in the city, such as the Morro Fort and San Bernardo Fort, as assets of cultural interest.

For this reason, it will appeal the ruling, which is not final, and “will provide evidence of compliance with the activities and actions related to adopting the Fifth Centenary Master Plan of Santa Marta.”

For its part, from the Presidency they assured “that the National Government has been complying with said sentence, in the understanding that the technical tables have been developed with the District, receiving the different projects to be able to comply with the sentence.”

“The Administrative Court of Magdalena does not have the competence to impose this sanction,” said the legal secretary of the Presidency, Germán Quintero, in a statement in which he pointed out that they will defend “the constitutional jurisdiction of the President in all jurisdictional instances and disciplinary action that may arise”.

SECOND HOUSE ARREST FOR DUQUE

This decision comes after the Superior Court of Ibagué ordered Duque for five days of house arrest at the beginning of the month, also for disregarding another court order, this time forcing him to protect the Los Nevados National Natural Park, located in the region of Coffee Region, declared as “subject of rights” in 2020.

The court order orders “to impose as a sanction a measure of house arrest for five days”, for whose compliance the director of the Colombian Police or the superior who attends the functions in the Palacio de Nariño, seat of the Executive, will be in charge.

The Colombian president assured then that it was “an act, first, that is inexplicable because it wants to go over the constitutional jurisdiction, where the arrest of the President of the Republic is supposedly ordered for not complying with that sentence.”

“That sentence is more than fulfilled and the reports are there, but apart from that the decision is not only unconstitutional, it is not final, it is open prevarication,” added the head of state.

The Colombian Constitution says that the jurisdiction of the President of the Republic is absolute and any action should be referred to the Accusation Commission of the House of Representatives, regardless of whether they are administrative or criminal matters.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.