In a statement, President Gustavo Petro sought to comply with the ruling of the guardianship filed against him by Enrique Vargas Lleras, brother of former Vice President Germán Vargas Lleras, for alleged libel and slander.
The president linked him to alleged irregularities in the administration of the Nueva EPS, since he was part of its board of directors. In the decision of the Council of State, the President was required to retract and apologize to the plaintiff for the publications against him.
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In one of the paragraphs, the president said: ““I retract the statement, which is still the subject of investigation.” He then indicated that they have found alleged irregularities in the New EPS when Enrique Vargas Lleras was a member of the Board of Directors, but that this “co-responsibility must be criminally investigated as it is done today”He then said that they will wait for the results of the investigation.
It is not very clear whether the president is retracting, obeying the order of the Council of State, since at the beginning of the communication he stated that he would present to the corresponding judicial authorities the reasons why he presents a conscientious objection to the third resolution of the tutela against him. It was at this point that the high administrative court ordered him to retract his statement.
“The President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro Urrego, is hereby ordered to retract and present public apologies to the plaintiff within five (5) days from the notification of this ruling for the publications of May 28, May 31, and June 4, 2024, and the speech of June 6, 2024. In order to comply with the order, the statement issued must be published and remain on the social media accounts of the Presidency of the Republic, the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic, and the personal account of X.com.”says the point at which the president presented his conscientious objection.
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Along the same lines, at another point in the document, he added: “I am not seeking to stop the application of the law, or to stop the enforcement of court rulings. I am seeking to be allowed, for reasons of conscience, to deviate from compliance with this particular court order.”
Gustavo Petro continued to express in the document that he is obliged to “adopt an inflexible behavior” in the face of possible abuses against the health system, which is why he asked to be allowed to invoke Article 18 of the Constitution. “Freedom of conscience is guaranteed. No one shall be harassed on account of his convictions or beliefs, nor compelled to reveal them, nor forced to act against his conscience.” the president indicated.
Under that path he pointed out that “My conscientious objection in the present case is balanced by the nature of a genuine objection, the seriousness with which I have assumed the defense of public resources and the certainty that, as of today, with the information available, I am constitutionally entitled to deviate from compliance with this court order.”
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The challenge presented by the Presidency
The clash of messages in President Gustavo Petro’s statement adds to the challenge to the ruling presented by the Presidency. EL TIEMPO had access to the challenge document in which his lawyer claims that the first instance ruling, which orders him to retract, “made errors of judgment when concluding that the statements made by the President of the Republic violated the fundamental rights of Enrique Vargas Lleras.”
The challenge also alleges that Vargas Lleras, a former member of the Nueva EPS board of directors, was never charged with any crimes. “At no time were specific crimes charged to Enrique Vargas Lleras, there was no trial of criminal responsibility for the existence of a multimillion-dollar embezzlement, for hiding and not paying bills for $5.5 billion, nor was it indicated that he had authorized unnecessary billion-dollar expenses, had conducted private business and/or financed a political party with these resources.”the document adds.
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“It was only pointed out that these preliminary findings on alleged irregularities allowed the president to question the management of public resources allocated to health within the New EPS,” adds the challenge.
The Council of State will review both the statement and the challenge. There it will be decided whether the president is right in his arguments or if on a second occasion he calls him to retract. If President Petro does not comply with the order, he could be declared in contempt of court and face sanctions restricting his freedom.
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Juan Sebastian Lombo
TIME- POLITICS
