Arrest Warrant Against Arturo Char: What Is He Accused Of And What Does It Imply?

The Supreme Court of Justice ordered preventive detention and issued an international arrest warrant against former Senator Arturo Char, a member of one of the most important political "clans" on the Caribbean coast, for alleged acts of electoral corruption and vote buying.

Arturo Char, who was a senator until February 6 when he resigned to defend himself in court after being charged in November 2022, is "investigated for alleged crimes of conspiracy to commit a crime and aggravated corruption of suffragette."

The Supreme Court decided to issue an "intramural preventive detention security measure" and for that purpose issue an international arrest warrant, with a red circular from Interpol, since he lives in the United States.

What is he accused of?

Char is being investigated for " the alleged criminal agreement to buy votes in Atlántico, which possibly materialized in October 2017, and in which a plural number of people were involved, including Arturo Char Chaljub and Aída Merlano Rebolledo," explained the Supreme Court in a statement.

Merlano, who aspired to the Senate in 2018, was also arrested for vote buying, but in 2019 she starred in a spectacular escape from the authorities from a clinic in Bogotá to Venezuela, from where she was deported last March.

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The Supreme Court now considers that the "criminal agreement (between the two) would have gone beyond a simple political agreement", since for Merlano to be elected to the Senate and Arturo Char re-elected " crimes against the mechanisms of democratic participation would have been carried out, through vote buying."

"The evidence collected so far in the investigation provides the minimum standard to adequately support the reasonableness of the security measure against Arturo Char Chaljub, for which it is suitable, necessary and urgent, without it being appropriate to replace it with house arrest. , nor by non-custodial measures", considered the Court.

The Char clan

Arturo Char comes from a family of magnates and politicians, which includes his brother Alejandro Char, former mayor of Barranquilla who re-aspired to that position in October, and who have warehouse chains, construction companies and the soccer team that the person under investigation presided over, the Junior of Barranquilla.