Colombia top court: State responsible for satirist's murder
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Colombia's top administrative court has ruled the state was responsible for the murder of a beloved satirist and peacemaker more than a decade ago.
Jaime Garzon was shot in the head by motorcycle gunmen on his way to work at a radio station in downtown Bogota. His 1999 slaying shocked Colombians, who looked to the journalist as a trusted intermediary with leftist rebels at a time of rising political violence.
In a ruling Wednesday, the Council of the State said a former army colonel and deputy director of the now-extinct DAS intelligence agency carried out illegal wiretaps on Garzon and shared the information with paramilitary bosses opposed to the humorist's peace efforts.
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The court ordered the state to pay around $235,000 to Garzon's family for damages.