In the last few hours it was learned that the lawyer who filed the electoral annulment lawsuit against the mayor of Tunja, Mikhai Krasnov, was hired by the company Ecovivienda, which is part of the municipal administration, and will provide his professional services.
This is Juan Sebastián Ramírez García who sued before the Administrative Court of Boyacá two weeks after Krasnov was elected as local leader, considering that the Russian was disqualified. However, the lawyer withdrew the lawsuit and, days later, the mayor hired him to provide his services in the mayor’s office.
In accordance with the contract of the Tunja Housing Construction Company, the lawyer was hired to:
“Provision of professional services as a lawyer to advance the negotiation process with the beneficiaries of the Estancia del Roble and Torres del Parque projects in the municipality of Tunja, legal support in the preparation of resolutions in the technical and administrative area, issuance of relevant legal concepts to Petitions, Complaints and Claims, petition rights, and other missionary processes of Ecovivienda and serve as a link with the Mayor’s Office of Tunja.”
In addition, according to the information published in SECOP, the contract would be for 10 months and 11 days, expiring on December 26, 2024, for the estimated value of $54,285,000.
Krasnov arrived in Colombia in 2008 as an exchange student with the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (Uptc), while pursuing studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In the capital of Boyacá he dedicated himself to learning Spanish as the sixth language he masters, but he ended up falling in love with the country.
He was known as the only Russian citizen living in Tunja and later as a professor at the public university. This was how he was surprised when he decided to enter politics, with a new party, Roy Barreras’ La Fuerza de la Paz, without any political tradition in the city.
What was the lawsuit about?
Krasnov’s election faced a legal challenge after lawyer Juan Sebastián Ramírez filed a lawsuit with the court, alleging Krasnov’s alleged inability to hold office, arguing that he violates state regulations. This legal action was based on the existence of a professorship contract that Krasnov would have signed with the Uptc, specifically at its headquarters in Tunja, on December 6, 2022.
The lawsuit maintains that said contract would violate the third paragraph of article 37 of Law 617 of 2000, a provision that invalidates the election of any candidate if, in the twelve months prior to his election, he had entered into contracts with state entities. The law seeks to preserve the independence of public officials from previous influences derived from state contracts, pointing out a possible conflict of interest that could affect the integrity of the public service.
To support his argument, lawyer Ramírez detailed the chronology and terms of the contract between Krasnov and the Uptc, highlighting how these events could constitute a violation of electoral regulations and, consequently, call into question the legitimacy of the election of Krasnov.
For its part, the Attorney General’s Office had announced in recent days that the mayor of Tunja could be disqualified from leading the city. According to the Public Ministry, the sole date of signing the contract marks a time of less than one year compared to the date of the local elections of October 29, 2023, which would constitute a cause of disqualification for the Russian’s political career. Colombian.
According to the disqualification regime, no one may be a candidate, elected or appointed as mayor if “within the 12 months prior to the date of the election he/she served as a public employee, jurisdiction or political, civil, administrative or military authority, in the respective municipality.” With Infobae