Regarding the long-lasting party that was held last week in the ERE South pavilion of the La Picota prison in Bogotá, which cost the last director of this penitentiary center, Joaquín Darío Medrano, his job, the Attorney General’s Office Nación summoned the vallenato singer Ana del Castillo and other artists to give their version of the events. In addition to the controversial Vallenato singer, the Valledupar Public Ministry also summoned the artists Mono Zabaleta, Daniel Maestre, Fabio Quiroz and Churo Díaz.
According to the statement from the Attorney General’s Office, the testimonies of five inmates from the same wing will also be taken into account, who would have more information about the irregularities that were already occurring in the place before the scandalous three-day party, celebrated in honor of the Virgin of Las Mercedes, considered the patron saint of prisoners and is commemorated with special events in prisons.
The holiday got out of hand in the ERE Sur, where people prosecuted for crimes such as links with paramilitaries or mismanagement of public money are detained. That is, members of the Colombian political class. This is the same pavilion in which citizens with extradition requests are held.
This Saturday, October 1, Semana magazine released video evidence of the parties: you can see that there was alcohol consumption, gambling, and musical groups. In one of the recordings, a vallenato singer with short hair is seen, so the researchers assume that the person who appears there is Ana del Castillo.
Due to these events, this same Saturday it was determined that Colonel Joaquín Darío Medrano, appointed as director of La Picota after the scandal of the permits of businessman Carlos Mattos, would be replaced by the dragoneante Horacio Bustamante Reyes. The announcement came with the statements of Néstor Osuna, Minister of Justice: “Prisons are not recreation clubs and in those centers where Inpec cannot maintain control there will be change, as happened in La Picota.”
The prison situation
On Monday, September 26, journalist Melquisedec Torres disclosed a WhatsApp conversation with a source about the irregularities presented in the ERE South pavilion. The protected source told the collaborator of the Caracol Radio station that in the last three months scandalous people have entered this pavilion: “among them, Roberto Herrera, a former representative to the Chamber for Magdalena; Mario Castaño, who is better known; and a man, Mauricio Perdomo, former mayor of Florencia, who I don’t know how he got to that patio because he is not registered,” the text messages say.
“These three people did this: they drink every day and last night [domingo 25 de septiembre] There was a very strong fight between Roberto Herrera and Iván Moreno Rojas, because that group of three not only drank but they partied with a lot of noise,” said the source.
Furthermore, the same anonymous person mentioned to Torres that fights are breaking out in that prison due to excessive drinking. “On the other hand, fifteen days ago, in a tremendous drunken state, Mr. Roberto Herrera himself tried to stab Mr. Francisco Ricaurte, the former magistrate, with a knife. The latter was in the kitchen, taking food, when Herrera arrived. The truth is, there was almost a homicide because Ricaurte did not want to give him information,” added the unknown prisoner in the conversation.
Given the scandal of the videos, the seizures and the incidents with alcohol, the Inpec special groups took on the task of finding how the alcoholic beverages were hidden in the pavilion. During that inspection they found a hole under a mattress, which led to an underground room, with a dirt floor that kept the drinks cold and out of sight of the guards. With Infobae
