Rebel Convicted in 3 Americans’ Deaths
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BOGOTA, Colombia — A rebel commander was convicted and sentenced in absentia Monday to 40 years in prison for the 1999 murders of three American pro-Indian activists, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
The verdict came a day before Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s visit to Colombia.
Washington broke off tentative peace contacts with Colombia’s largest rebel faction after the killings of U.S. citizens Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Laheenae Gay. U.S. officials often cite the killings in characterizing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as a terrorist group that has turned on Americans.
German Briceno--the rebel convicted of homicide, kidnapping and rebellion--is the brother of Jorge Briceno, the chief military strategist of the FARC. A suspected low-level FARC member, Gustavo Bocota, was also convicted Monday by the court, in the north-central city of Cucuta, according to the prosecutor’s office in Bogota, the capital.
German Briceno was in charge of FARC forces in the eastern state of Arauca when the U.S. citizens were abducted and killed.
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