Prosecutor's Office explained the measures it took in response to the threats against the official Angelica Monsalve

It was on April 4 when the Attorney General's Office received complaints about the threats being made against Angelica Monsalve. In a press release released on April 6, the agency listed what measures have been taken to protect the life of the prosecutor delegated to Circuit Judges of the Bogotá Sectional Directorate. “Pursuant to the alleged threats, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Nation immediately proceeded to carry out the following actions”, he said in the statement.

Initially, the agency explained, Angelica María Monsalve was contacted by telephone to warn her of what was happening. It was the deputy attorney general of the nation, Marta Mancera, who warned her that, supposedly, a criminal gang was orchestrating a plan to assassinate her. After that, the entity argues, an investigation process was opened to clarify what was reported. In this inquiry, the participation of a prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations and a team of the Judicial Police composed of members of the CTI and the National Police were requested to participate.

Added to this was the request of the Department of Protection and Assistance of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Nation. From there, a technical threat and risk assessment was carried out on the victim. “The Department of Protection and Assistance of the FGN, in compliance with the provisions of paragraph of article 148 of Resolution 1006 of March 26, 2016, assigned to the server a personal and facilities security scheme, with the purpose of guaranteeing its life and personal integrity,” the document reads.

It was on April 5 when, in a meeting between the Director of Protection and Assistance of the Prosecutor's Office and Angelica Monsalve, that the victim was asked for his consent to begin the threat and risk assessment, as mandated by Law 1581 of 2012 on Data Protection. As emphasized by the Prosecutor's Office, Monsalve did not consent to that process, however, it is noted that the security scheme that it has had for some time has not been taken away from it. In addition, it was revealed that the measures provided for in resolution 1006 of 2016, in its articles 155 and 156, those relating to change of workplace and reassignment of the process, have not been implemented.

In an interview with W Radio, on the morning of Wednesday, April 6, Angelica María Monsalve stressed that “I would have to sign them a document to authorize a security study, which yields an evaluation, it is as if I gave a blank check to the prosecutor or the director of protection (...)”

Monsalve warns that the risk of accepting this protection is set out in article 155 of resolution 1006 of 2016 of the Office of the Attorney General, which states: “In the event that the risk is extraordinary, a change of address will be made, which is understood as the change of workplace of the server located inside the Prosecutor's Office General of the Nation, to another place in the country, away from the risk zone”.

“If someone wants to hurt me, I will not hold anyone responsible, we already know who the suspects are, who were the ones who exerted the traffic in influence to obstruct that justice, then if someone wanted to hurt me it could be those people who are qualified and pointed out by me and who have been offended by my statements. However, I don't feel threatened by these people either,” she added.

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