Colombia-Campaign Director Charged
8-28-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Prosecutors charged President Ernesto Samper's campaign director Monday with taking money from drug traffickers in last year's election and falsifying documents to hide the contributions.
Fernando Botero, who resigned as defense minister on Aug. 2, was ordered held without bail, Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso's office announced.
The charges against Botero mean prosecutors have enough evidence to doubt his denials that the Cali cartel funded Samper's election campaign, and throws doubt on the president's own denials.
Botero denied the charges in a statement Monday night.
"I accept them with the strength and serenity that my innocence gives me," Botero said.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
A congressional commission is investigating Samper, who said last week he would rather die than leave the presidency before his term ends in 1998.
Botero was arrested on Aug. 15 and held at an army base while prosecutors investigated whether evidence implicated him in Colombia's highest-reaching drug scandal.
The charges stem from Botero's alleged role in seeking money from the Cali cartel, said to be the world's biggest cocaine-trafficking organization, and in falsifying documents to hide the campaign contributions.
Samper's campaign treasurer, Santiago Medina, told prosecutors last month that, under Botero's instructions and with Samper's approval, he obtained at least $6.1 million from the cartel to help Samper win the presidency in the June 1994 elections.
Medina, arrested on July 26, is in prison.
After hours of interrogation, Botero said the campaign received only legitimate funding, sources in Valdivieso's office said. But seized documents and testimony from Medina and others belied Botero's denials of wrongdoing, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
Botero will remain under arrest in the army base for up to 18 months as prosecutors prepare for the trial stage.
Samper's office expressed support for the prosecutor's decision to press charges but said it was confident Botero will be able to prove his innocence.
In an interview published Sunday in The Washington Post, Samper said the allegations are a conspiracy by his political enemies and the Cali cartel. Samper vowed he would never resign.
"I will leave the presidential palace either with my head held high or dead," he said.
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Prosecutors charged President Ernesto Samper's campaign director Monday with taking money from drug traffickers in last year's election and falsifying documents to hide the contributions.
Fernando Botero, who resigned as defense minister on Aug. 2, was ordered held without bail, Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso's office announced.
The charges against Botero mean prosecutors have enough evidence to doubt his denials that the Cali cartel funded Samper's election campaign, and throws doubt on the president's own denials.
Botero denied the charges in a statement Monday night.
"I accept them with the strength and serenity that my innocence gives me," Botero said.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
A congressional commission is investigating Samper, who said last week he would rather die than leave the presidency before his term ends in 1998.
Botero was arrested on Aug. 15 and held at an army base while prosecutors investigated whether evidence implicated him in Colombia's highest-reaching drug scandal.
The charges stem from Botero's alleged role in seeking money from the Cali cartel, said to be the world's biggest cocaine-trafficking organization, and in falsifying documents to hide the campaign contributions.
Samper's campaign treasurer, Santiago Medina, told prosecutors last month that, under Botero's instructions and with Samper's approval, he obtained at least $6.1 million from the cartel to help Samper win the presidency in the June 1994 elections.
Medina, arrested on July 26, is in prison.
After hours of interrogation, Botero said the campaign received only legitimate funding, sources in Valdivieso's office said. But seized documents and testimony from Medina and others belied Botero's denials of wrongdoing, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
Botero will remain under arrest in the army base for up to 18 months as prosecutors prepare for the trial stage.
Samper's office expressed support for the prosecutor's decision to press charges but said it was confident Botero will be able to prove his innocence.
In an interview published Sunday in The Washington Post, Samper said the allegations are a conspiracy by his political enemies and the Cali cartel. Samper vowed he would never resign.
"I will leave the presidential palace either with my head held high or dead," he said.
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