Former intelligence chief convicted of “aggravated torture” of Colombian journalist sentenced to 12 years in prison

A Bogota judge has sentenced a former intelligence chief to 12 years in prison for crimes including “aggravated torture” of a journalist, the Colombian public prosecutor’s office said.

Enrique Ariza, former head of Colombia’s defunct DAS intelligence service, was convicted of “persecution, harassment” and other crimes against journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, the prosecutor’s office said Thursday.

Ariza was found guilty of “the crime of aggravated torture,” it said on social media.

With the latest conviction, “eight former officials of this agency have now been sentenced for the persecution to which my family and I were subjected,” Duque said on social media.

On Monday, the former DAS deputy director, Jose Narvaez, was also sentenced to 12 years in prison in the same case. Former intelligence director Giancarlo Auque, also linked to the case, is yet to be tried, Duque said.

The journalist, who had to be protected by bodyguards until she sought refuge in Spain, has accused the DAS of spying on her between 2001 and 2004, and threatening to murder her and rape her daughter when she was 10.

Colombia GPS Tracking — Journalist Claudia Julieta Duque poses for a portrait in Bogota, Colombia, on July 29, 2022. Colombia has for a decade been quietly installing trackers in the armored vehicles of at-risk individuals as well as VIPs, including presidents, government ministers, senators and Duque.

Fernando Vergara / AP

The origin of the harassment was Duque’s investigation of the murder of journalist Jaime Garzon in 1999, in which she denounced DAS involvement in crime.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, two gunmen killed Garzón, host of a daily morning show in Bogota, as he was driving his Jeep Cherokee to the studio. Garzón, who was 38 when he died, was a beloved figure in Colombia whose life story inspired a television mini-series, CJR reported.

In November, another former Colombian state security agent, Ronal Harbey Rivera Rodríguez, was also convicted of aggravated torture against Duque, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported.

In 2017, the Latin American and the Colombian Federations of Journalists granted Duque with a “special recognition for her bravery in the fight for justice,” according to the International Media Women’s Foundation.

“JUSTICE!!” Duque tweeted on Thursday after Ariza was sentenced to prison.