US condemns FARC $ 36 million for Ingrid Betancourt abduction

A U.S. court has sentenced former Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) guerrilla group and several of its leaders to $ 36 million for kidnapping Colombian politician Ingrid Bettencourt for more than six years.

The sentence handed down by Pennsylvania Federal Court Judge Matthew Brann on Thursday (Jan. 13) was made public in a security statement Thursday, indicating that the FARC should pay $ 12 million in damages. Lawrence Dello, son of Botancourt, was the plaintiff in June 2018 and was a teenager when his mother was abducted.

Lawyer Scarinci Hollenbeck, the law firm responsible for the indictment, said the lawyer’s fees added to that $ 12 million, bringing the total to more than $ 36 million.

Deloy argued in his complaint that the FARC and its leaders had violated anti-terrorism law and that his mother’s abduction had caused him considerable distress.

“No amount of money can replace the time Lawrence Delloy lost without his mother or cure the trauma he suffered at the hands of the FARC. We are proud to have been able to achieve some kind of justice,” said attorney Robert Levy.

Born in San Bernardino, California in 1988, Delloy is a U.S. citizen, and the case is being heard in a U.S. court.

“FARC and its members suffered damages from the plaintiff’s separation from his mother, and he was devastated not to know if his mother was alive or dead, or if he would ever reunite with her,” Delloye’s defense alleges. In process.

In his sentence, only one of the 15 FARC leaders charged, Juan José Martínez Vega responded to the charges, while the judge noted that the others had not appeared in court for the past three and a half years.

Ingrid Bettencourt, now 61, was abducted in February 2002 during a visit to FARC-controlled southern Colombia as part of her presidential campaign.

In July 2008, he was rescued by Colombian troops, along with 14 FARC hostages, posing as workers for an international humanitarian organization.