U.S. lawmaker criticizes dismissal of tough Colombian judge

Rep. George Miller accuses the government of 'meddling' after Jose Nirio Sanchez lost his tribunal seat following guilty verdicts for three members of the army.


BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- The dismissal of a judge who handed down convictions and tough sentences in the slayings of several labor leaders came in for harsh criticism from an influential U.S. legislator as Congress considers a free trade agreement with Colombia.

The judge sat on a special tribunal that last year began looking into the killings of 2,554 labor leaders and organizers since 1986, a panel formed at the urging of the U.S. government, which provided millions of dollars to fund it.

During the tribunal's first session, Judge Jose Nirio Sanchez found three members of the Colombian army guilty of murder in the 2004 killings of three labor leaders in Arauca province.

The soldiers had claimed that the victims were leftist guerrillas who died in a gun battle.

The judge also convicted a man who hacked labor leader Luciano Romero Molina to death with a machete, and ordered an investigation into whether the multinational firm Nestle might have ordered the killing.........