BOGOTÁ (AP) — Former lawmaker Aída Merlano was transferred from Venezuela to Colombia on Friday under deportation proceedings to her native country, where she was found guilty of corruption, the Colombian government reported.
Merlano escaped in October 2019, taking advantage of his release from prison to attend a dental consultation in Bogotá. From the office window, he slipped under a sheet and fled on a motorbike. Then she was arrested in Venezuela.
The Colombian Foreign Ministry clarified that this is a deportation process and not compliance with an extradition request that was made by Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
“Both countries have requested respect and full guarantee of the rights of Ms. Merlano, for which they have requested the presence of the corresponding judicial authority and of the ombudsman’s office,” the Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
Two judgments of the Supreme Court of Justice weigh against Merlano. The first was pronounced in 2019 for the crimes of criminal conspiracy to commit a crime, corruption and illegal possession of weapons for which he must serve a sentence of 11 years and four months in prison. The second was pronounced in 2022 -when she was already on the run- for the crime of having violated spending limits in electoral campaigns, with a sentence of five years and six months in prison.