Fugitive former Colombian congresswoman deported from Venezuela

Former Colombian congresswoman Aída Merlano, who fled from the authorities in October 2019 when he was serving a sentence for buying votes, he will arrive in Colombia from Venezuela this Friday, March 10.

His lawyer, Miguel Ángel del Río, confirmed that the transfer from Venezuela, where he remained in the custody of the authorities of that country, began in the early hours of the day.

The Government of Colombia had requested his extradition on February 9, when the Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, announced that in the framework of the reactivation of diplomatic relations with Venezuela, President Gustavo Petro asked Nicolás Maduro to extradition of Merlano.

“Now that diplomatic relations with Venezuela have been reactivated, we have begun the process for his extradition,” Osuna said at the time.

The extradition process also takes place after the former congresswoman herself asked Petro to request his extradition from Venezuela.

Merlano made his request during a hearing in a process that is being carried out against the businessman Julio Gerlein for the alleged purchase of votes in the department of Atlántico, in the Caribbean of Colombia, during the congressional elections for the year 2018.

“Take advantage of the space I have before this public hearing, to very respectfully request President Gustavo Petro to request my extradition to Colombia as soon as possible,” Merlano said in a virtual hearing before the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia.

In a statement, the Colombian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the former congresswoman is being deported to Colombia.

“Aída Merlano is being transferred from Venezuela to Colombia, not as a result of an extradition request that was submitted to Mr. Juan Guaidó at the time, without any effectiveness, but by deportation, a measure recognized by International Law, taken by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”, read the statement from the Colombian Foreign Ministry.

Aída Merlano Rebolledo, was sentenced to 5 and 11 years in prison in two judicial processes of the Supreme Court of Justice for electoral corruption. Likewise, she is also linked as a witness in other processes that are being carried out against two powerful politicians and businessmen from the Caribbean region, both possible electoral crimes.

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