Ms. Bedoya further extended the complaint 149 and on November 26, 2011, Ms. Bedoya submitted a
new sworn statement. 150 On April 30, 2012, Ms. Bedoya once again gave a sworn statement before
the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation. 151
69. With regard to the persons prosecuted for the facts committed against Ms. Bedoya on May 25,
2000, the information that is outlined below is what is available.
c.1 Criminal proceedings against Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco
70. In the framework of the criminal procedure regarding the crimes committed against Ms. Bedoya
on May 25, 2000, Mr. Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, alias “JJ or John Jairo Restrepo,” demobilized from
the Centauros Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia and held in the “La Picota” prison
(Bogotá), acknowledged having been the person who intercepted and kidnapped Ms. Bedoya on the
orders of commanders of the Centauros Bloc. 152 On September 13, 2011, the account given by Mr.
Cárdenas on September 6, 2011 before the justice and peace jurisdiction, in which he acknowledged
his participation in Ms. Bedoya’s kidnapping on May 25, 2000 was forwarded to the Office of the
Attorney General. 153 Following a series of inquiries, on February 22, 2013, formal charges were filed
against Mr. Cárdenas as part of a plea bargain in which he plead guilty to simple kidnapping with
circumstances of aggravation and torture of a protected person. 154
71. On February 24, 2016, the Fifth Criminal Judge of the Bogotá Specialized Circuit convicted
Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and sentenced him to 11 years and 5 months in prison, to a fine of ninety
legal monthly minimum wages in force at the time of the events, as well as to the civil penalty of
disqualification from the exercise of public rights and functions for a period equal to restriction on
liberty, for the crimes, as co-perpetrator, of simple kidnapping with aggravating circumstances and
"torture of a protected person," to the detriment of the victim Jineth Bedoya Lima. The judge also
classified the facts suffered by Ms. Bedoya as a crime against humanity. 155
72. Likewise, on May 6, 2019, the Fifth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Specialized Circuit convicted
Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and sentenced him to 30 years in prison, along with the civil penalty of
disqualification from the exercise of public rights and functions for 20 years, for the crime of
"aggravated violent rape of a protected person," to the detriment of the victim Jineth Bedoya Lima. 156
On October 28, 2019, the Criminal Decision Chamber of the Superior Court of the Judicial District of
Bogotá D.C. agreed to modify the sentence by convicting Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and sentencing
him to 30 years in prison as co-perpetrator of the "crime of aggravated violent rape." 157
149
Cf. Expansion of complaint of Jineth Bedoya Lima, August 11, 2010 (evidence file, folio 638).
150
Cf. Sworn statement of Jineth Bedoya Lima, November 26, 2011 (evidence file, folios 4414 to 44124).
151
Cf. Sworn statement of Jineth Bedoya Lima, April 30, 2012 (evidence file, folio 801).
152
Cf. Resolution of Specialized Prosecutor 49 UNDH-DIH, of September 2, 2011 (evidence file, folio 777).
Cf. Statement made by Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, of September 6, 2011, forwarded by the Chief Prosecutor of the
National Unit of Public Prosecutions for Justice and Peace to the Head of the National Unit for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law (evidence file, folio 782).
153
154
Cf. Formal charges for plea bargain of February 22, 2013 for defendant Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco (evidence file,
folios 833 to 902), and Fifth Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Bogotá, Judgment of February 24, 2016 (evidence
file, folio 24046).
155
Cf. Fifth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Specialized Circuit, Judgment of February 24, 2016 (evidence file, folios 24070
to 24071).
156
Cf. Fifth Criminal Court of the Bogotá Specialized Circuit, Judgment of May 6, 2019 (evidence file, folio 24225).
Cf. Superior Court of the Judicial District of Bogotá D.C., Criminal Decision Chamber, Judgment of October 28, 2019
(evidence file, folio 24274).
157
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