They postponed to May, hearing on charges against Andrés Escobar

This Thursday, in a hearing against Andrés Escobar, a man accused of shooting civilians in Cali during the 2021 national strike, the Attorney General's Office charged with aggravated threats, throwing dangerous objects and usurping public functions. However, the Court neither endorsed nor rejected the petition, therefore, the hearing was suspended and postponed until May 16.

The watchdog indicated that Escobar, along with four other people and 12 police officers, committed an illegal action by attacking protesters with firearms in the Ciudad Jardín neighborhood on May 28 as part of the National Paro. It was supported by videos recorded on cell phones of protesters who were attacked in the middle of the protests.

At the beginning of the judicial proceedings, Andrés Escobar told the Cali Guarantee Judge that his trusted lawyer was sick and had a headache that prevented him from participating in the proceedings. A petition that was rejected, the judge told him that if the defender was ill, he could be assigned a public defender to advise him during the hearing.

For his part, Escobar pointed out that the weapon he used is a blank and has the papers in order. He also stated that the shots were to deter the “vandals” who, according to him, were going to burn the CAI in that sector of Valle del Cauca.

The victims' lawyer, Elmer Montaña, will ask that those involved be sent to prison and has asked for assurance against Escobar.

On May 16, the Attorney General's Office will resume the hearing with the request for an assurance measure against Escobar and the others involved.

On February 16, 2022, the indictment hearing for Andrés Escobar was postponed due to a request by the defense, however, the reasons for reaching this decision are still unknown.

According to the information of the lawyer, Elmer Montaña, the lawyer who filed the criminal complaint, the indictment of charges had also been postponed on 24 January, without knowing the reason or reason for this decision.

“What we do know is that the defence again requested a postponement of the hearing, we do not know the reason, the prosecutor will disclose the cases later, we have warned that if the prosecution does not request the insurance measure, the victims' lawyers will make that request to the guarantee control judge,” Montaña said.

On May 28, 2021, amid the protests taking place in the city of Cali during the National Paro, a video quickly went viral on social networks showing a civilian, accompanied by the National Police, shooting at protesters. This act generated all kinds of comments in which many reproached the businessman's act, while others defended his cause.

“The video clearly shows that I am shooting a few shots in the air, I did not intend to harm a person. The vandals were reducing the public forces and I shot to dissuade them, because they were going to burn the CAI of Ciudad Jardín,” said Andrés Escobar in a video he posted on his social networks in which he referred to what happened that day and where he showed that the weapon he possessed at that time was a blank.

However, in the documentary 'Cali Everyone Scream', they revealed a photograph where it would be appreciated that the weapon that Andrés Escobar was carrying at the time of the demonstrations is very different from the one he showed in the video he published.

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