Kidnappings of journalists and Ecuadorian couple will be imputed to “Cherry” by the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office

Ecuadornews:

This July 23 the first hearing was held in the trial of Gustavo A., one of the members of the Oliver Sinisterra Front One week after his arrest, Gustavo A., alias “Cherry”, was imputed by the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office for the Conviction crimes to commit a crime and kidnapping.

This in relation to the kidnapping of the newspaper team of Diario El Comercio and the Ecuadorian couple, both events occurred in the border area between Ecuador and Colombia.

The Prosecutor in charge of the case assured that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate the participation and responsibility of “Cherry” in both kidnappings. The Prosecutor indicated that the kidnapped were handed over to alias “Cherry” and it was he who ordered them to be retained and then handed over to Walter A., alias “Guacho”, leader of the Oliver Sinisterra Front, leading the attacks, kidnappings and murders.

“Cherry” was born in Tumaco 27 years ago and was part of the column Daniel Aldana of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In the guerrilla it was until the middle of the 2017, but it followed “Guacho” in its narcodelictiva organization.

In this band, according to the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office, he was in charge of security and even was in the “rings” of protection of “Guacho”. In addition, he participated in extortion actions and attacks in the northern neighbor. The trail of his crimes in Ecuador began on March 26 this year, when he intercepted the El Comercio newspaper team, Javier Ortega, Paúl Rivas and Efraín Segarra.

The Office of the Prosecutor held that together with his accomplices, “Robert and Cristian”, they detained the Ecuadorian journalists to take them to “Guacho”. The three remained in detention until they were killed. But this is not the only crime that was aliased to “Cherry”, the prosecution also said he participated in the kidnapping of Óscar Villacís and Katty Velasco, the couple of Ecuadorian citizens who was held on April 14 in the community of Puerto Rico (Colombia) The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office filed charges for crimes against the security of the State, and for their complicity in the kidnappings and subsequent murder of the five Ecuadorians. But this accusation was not accepted by “Cherry” and decided to go to trial to present his defense. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/judicial/12/cherry-guacho-secuestro