Dismissed Bogota mayor did not break the law: Report
Dismissed Bogota mayor did not break the law: Report
posted by Adriaan Alsema
Jan 10, 2014
Prosecutors have dropped charges against Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro over irregularities in a trash collection reform that forced Colombias Inspector General to dismiss the leftist burgomaster, reported television network Caracol on Thursday.
The report came hours before planned pro-Petro marches in Colombias cities in protest of the dismissal the supporters of the Bogota mayor and former senator consider arbitrary and politically motivated.
The reported filing of the criminal investigation has no direct consequences for the decision of Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez which was of a disciplinary nature.
The inspector general ruled in December that Petro was dismissed and disallowed to hold public office for 15 years over garbage that accumulated in the streets of Colombias capital for three days in 2011 during attempts to bring Bogotas trash collection under government control.
According to Ordoñez, Petro violated the right to free enterprise and illegitimately removed the trash collection from the contractors.
The decision was not just criticized by Petro and his supporters, but also by the incoming US ambassador who claimed before US Congress that the decision to dismiss Bogotas mayor, a former guerrilla of the now-extinct M-19 movement, may harm ongoing peace talks with the FARC who are negotiating their participation in Colombian politics.
http://colombiareports.co/dismissed-bogota-mayor-break-law-report/
(Short article, no more at link.)