The 15-year-old hitman responsible for killing Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe received a 7 year sentence on Wednesday.
The teenager, who will be interred at a “specialized care center”, was tried under the Childhood and Adolescence Code, which caps the detention period for minors at 7 years.
The late senator’s lawyer accepted the sentence but criticized the law for incentivizing criminal groups to use underage hitmen, a not uncommon occurrence in Colombia.
Videos show the teenager shooting Uribe twice in the head with a Glock 9mm pistol on June 7. He was pursued and detained by close protection officers and police while fleeing the scene, sustaining a gunshot wound to his leg during the chase.
In a video of his arrest, the teenager can be heard telling police “I’m sorry, I did it for the money, for my family.”
He pleaded guilty in a hearing on August 4 to “attempted murder and the manufacture, trafficking, carrying, or possession of firearms, accessories, parts, or ammunition,” according to the Attorney General’s office.
Seven days later, senator Uribe succumbed to his injuries after fighting for his life in hospital for over 2 months.
Uribe’s lawyer, Victor Mosquera Marin, accepted the sentence but said it was too lenient.
“We respect the decision, but that punishment can never be equated with the life that was taken or the pain caused,” he wrote on X.
“This law encourages criminals to use minors without real and effective punishment,” he added.
Other commentators echoed Marin’s criticisms, with conservative presidential candidate Vicky Dávila promising to change the law if she is elected to office.
However, child protection groups argue that the sentence is consistent with internationally accepted norms for protecting children and teenagers.
“The sentence must be evaluated under international principles: deprivation of liberty for adolescents is a measure of last resort,” said Hilda Molano, coordinator at the Coalition Against the Involvement of Children and Young People in the Armed Conflict in Colombia (COALICO).
She argued that a harsh sentence does more damage than good given the “malleability” of young offenders.
Molano also noted that the instrumentalization of minors in crime is inextricably linked to socioeconomic factors.
“A teenager who commits a crime is not only a transgressor or in conflict with criminal law: they are almost always also a victim of poverty, exclusion, violence, recruitment, and exploitation by criminal organizations,”
The hitman came from a poor neighborhood in Bogotá and lived with his aunt, according to local media. His mother is dead and his father estranged.
Featured image description: Miguel Uribe.
Image credit: Miguel Uribe via X: @MiguelUribeT
