Senator Defends Surrender Law Against Attorney General's Criticism in Colombia

Ivan Cepeda, a senator from the Historic Pact party and co-author of the surrender law, responded to the Attorney General’s criticism of the Colombian government’s initiative. Cepeda emphasized that many of the observations made by the Prosecutor about the bill were already accepted. He also stated that it is incomprehensible for the Prosecutor to support the rule one day and criticize it the next.

“”I invite the Attorney to make a spiritual retreat and come to an agreement with himself, to see if we can have a serious opinion from him in this debate,”” Cepeda said. The congressman refuted Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa’s claim that the bill will benefit drug traffickers and highlighted that the higher council for criminal policy endorsed the law.

The Colombian government aims to pass a rule in Congress approving surrender deals for criminal gangs. The law offers benefits such as reduced prison sentences in exchange for dismantling operations, among other things.