The prosecution will make an inspection this Tuesday in a dependency of the Narino Palaceheadquarters of the Executive, as part of the investigation into an alleged theft of money at the home of Laura SarabiaPresident Gustavo Petro’s chief of staff, and the alleged abuse of power, through the use of a polygraph, in an interrogation.
“The diligence that will be carried out today, May 30, has the purpose of collecting information and carrying out verification work to establish the existence of security cameras for the entrance to the Galán building, where it is located, apparently, the polygraph room,” said the Prosecutor’s Office in a statement.
The investigation is related to allegations of Marelbys Mezawho worked as a babysitter at Sarabia’s house and says she was interrogated in the presidential palace premises as a suspect in the alleged theft of a briefcase with an unspecified amount of money.
As Meza revealed to Semana magazine, once Sarabia found out about the robbery, members of presidential security made her go to a building located opposite the Casa de Nariño where she was interrogated and subjected to polygraph tests without a court order, which caused a controversy in the country.
La Casa de Nariño reported last Sunday that the alleged robbery occurred “in January 2023” and “on the 29th of that same month the respective criminal complaint was filed with the competent authorities.”
“We reject versions of alleged abuses of power, misuse of public resources and mistreatment of defenseless people,” the government said in the statement, adding that “the procedures” to which the former babysitter was subjected “were carried out at the of the Headquarters for Presidential Protection, visible, duly identified and arranged in that same location for many years ago”.
However, the Colombian attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, who is in conflict with Petro, has stressed that “the only entity that can carry out investigative processes on crimes is the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation.”
Today’s statement from the Prosecutor’s Office says that Petro “is missing the truth” when saying that what is going to be carried out is a raid and ensures that “the judicial proceeding that will be carried out is an inspection requested by a prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations”.
He will also inspect the Presidency Protection Headquarters to find out the list of people who between January and February of this year were part of the security and transportation scheme assigned to Sarabia, considered Petro’s right hand.
The Prosecutor’s Office explained that today’s procedure was previously reported to the Chief Officer of the Palace Protection Office to authorize the entry of the prosecutor’s officials.
“The physical evidence and the material evidence collected will strengthen the investigation being carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office on alleged harm to a woman who worked with Dr. Laura Sarabia,” the document explained.
The Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that the inspection is within its powers and that it is for “the normal development of the investigation, while guaranteeing the fundamental rights of those who could be affected by the diligence” and that the material collected will strengthen the investigation.
The document concludes that the inspection is a responsibility of the prosecutors for the “normal development of the investigation, while guaranteeing the fundamental rights of those who could be affected by the diligence.”