Fugitive politician heading for 36 years jail

A FORMER  Colombian deputy on the run since June after being convicted of masterminding the 2002 murder of a prominent journalist has been caught.

The politician Ferney Tapasco, in  La Estrella de Manizales,in Caldas,  165 kilometers northwest of Bogota,

In June, the High Court of Manizales sentenced  him to 36 years in prison for proven responsibility in the murder of Orlando Sierra, who at the time of his death was assistant editor of La Patria de Manizales.

Sierra was a harsh critic of some politicians in Caldas and denounced acts of corruption. Tapasco was a member of the Assembly of Caldas.

In December, 2013, Tapasco was acquitted of  Sierra’s murder , but both the prosecution and the Attorney General  immediately appealed the judgment.

Angel Gloria Luz, the journalist’s former  girlfriend, said  at the time  it was  “very important that a crime like Orlando … not go unpunished.”

Angel said that the High Court of Manizales had revoked the first decisionand , that “demonstrates that there is justice and that other cases of other journalists may succeed” in the courts.

The Foundation for Press Freedom, said that “the murder of Sierra is the first case in Colombia where the criminal chain from the perpetrators to the intellectuals, has achieved  justice.”