Colombia: The Attorney General's Office announces that it will request imprisonment for President Gustavo Petro's son

The Attorney General's Office of Colombia will charge President Gustavo Petro's son and recommend imprisonment for alleged money laundering, illicit enrichment and use of irregular funds to finance his father's presidential campaign in 2022. However, they have not yet revealed the additional accusations. The Prosecutor's Office announced that these are related to alleged acts of extra corruption, which occurred while Nicolás Petro was serving as a deputy of the Atlantic Assembly.

The announcements are the first legal developments in this case since the new attorney general, Luz Adriana Camargo, took office. President Petro proposed she replace Francisco Barbosa, who had been identified as a political rival of the progressive president.

"The Prosecutor's Office has yet to add the formulation of the accusation to Mr. Nicolás Petro and request a security measure in a prison facility for other unjust criminal offenses, then there is extreme concern that we will not advance in this preparatory hearing," said the prosecutor Mario Burgos during the pre-trial hearing, which was requested by the president's son's own defense.

The second part of the hearing is scheduled for August, either on the 5th or 6th. Until then, Nicolás Petro will continue under house arrest.

What are they accusing the president's son of?

Nicolás Petro Burgos, a 37-year-old lawyer and eldest son of the current president of Colombia, was charged in August 2023 for allegedly having committed crimes related to money laundering and illicit enrichment.

The case was triggered by the testimony of his ex-wife, Daysuris Vásquez, who revealed that Petro had received money from a businessman of dubious reputation to finance his father's presidential campaign. However, Nicolás Petro would have kept those funds without saying a word to the then-candidate.

Although the president's son initially said he would collaborate with the investigation, he recanted shortly after and affirmed his innocence.