Hil did it; "suggests" immunity for uribito in Drummond case

[rabs]

I am only seeing a Spanish version in El Tiempo. It is convoluted and translating main points for English-only readers. Checked but did not find English story, yet.

First impression is that Hillary/Obama caved in on extending immunity to someone who is no longer a leader but a common citizen.

Guess uribito knows too much.

But uribito is not completely in the clear, the judge in the Drummond case still has to decide whether the court will accept or not the State Department "suggestion."




From El Tiempo tonight:

-- The Department of State document says immunity applies to the years when uribito was president, governor of Antioquía and when he was a senator.

-- The document leaves clear that the defendants in the Drummond case cannot force uribito to testify about events that occured when he was governor, senator or president.

-- The document calls on the court to ask the defendants to exhaust all "reasonable means to obtain the information they seek from uribe before ordering him to testify about things for which he would not have immunity." In other words, before ordering his testimony, the petitioners would have to demonstrate that they sought the same information for other sources.

-- The ruling now goes to the judge, who has the last word.

-- If the court accepts the ruling, uribito would be protected against any legal process in a U.S. court while he was a government official.

-- But uribito could be called to testify, or be accused, in cases that are not under the umbrella of when he was in the state or national governments.

http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/estados-unidos/inmunidad-el-ex-presidente-lvaro-uribe_9102784-4

[Judi Lynn]

1. The US President isn't protected from situations like this. Doesn't make sense.

Here's how AP explains it:

Posted on Thu, Mar. 31, 2011 09:12 PM
Obama administration sides with Uribe on subpoena
By PETE YOST
Associated Press

The Obama administration urged a federal judge to move cautiously rather than order former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to undergo questioning now about any knowledge of right-wing death squads.

In a court filing Thursday night, the Justice Department said federal courts should respect concerns expressed by the government of Colombia over a subpoena for Uribe to testify in a lawsuit by families of death squad victims.

The families are seeking damages from Alabama-based coal company Drummond for allegedly supporting right-wing death squads.

The Justice Department says a U.S. judge should order lawyers for the families to exhaust other avenues of getting the information they seek before ordering Uribe to be questioned.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/31/2767025/obama-administration-sides-with.html

Thanks for posting the El Tiempo report.

He's got to be confronted legally eventually, one way or another. It's a miracle he's been able to avoid it this long.

[rabs]

2. Good you found an English version

But the AP leaves out that the judge in the Drummond case will have the final say. So in theory the judge could ignore the "suggestion."

(One can always hope, right?)

[Judi Lynn]

3. It would be an important step out of feudalism to find an Alabama judge who'd do that.

Drummond has enormous power in that state.

Imagine a company which exploited Alabama's coal supply, paid workers slave wages, appalling working conditions, then, when so many Alabama families depended upon those jobs, got up and moved operations to Colombia, and THEN started sending Colombia's cheaper coal back to Alabama at a price favorable to Drummond.

True capitalists.

It would take a real man of honor with so much courage to do the right thing in any Drummond trial.