The Colombian Association of Criminal Lawyers expressed its rejection of the criticism directed from sectors of the government towards its colleague Judge Majer Nay Abu Shihab, whose voice was decisive in the decision of the National Electoral Council that imposed sanctions on Gustavo Petro’s presidential campaign due to an alleged violation of electoral boundaries.
The union’s reaction came after President Gustavo Petro himself, along with officials and lawyers linked to the historic charter, questioned the impartiality of the jurist.
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The Criminal Bar Association said in a statement issued via X: “We reject the stereotyping and attacks on lawyer Majer Abu Sahab for exercising his job as an associate judge. Doubts about neutrality are resolved through legal means, through challenges, not through bullying or public stereotyping“.
The CNE ruling, approved on November 27 by a vote of 6 to 3, decided that the Petro Presidente 2022 campaign would have exceeded funding limits. This decision was supported by the presentation made by Justices Benjamin Ortiz and Álvaro Hernán Prada, which had already received five votes before being presented to the plenary session for consideration.
The absence of the two judges – Alba Lucía Velasquez, who was suspended for being an electoral witness for the historic charter, and Álvaro Echeverri, who was suspended for doing legal work for the campaign under investigation – led to the appointment of co-judges. In this context, Abu Shehab’s vote completed the absolute majority required to approve the punishment.
The controversy centered around the professional background of the associate judge. In posts in X, lawyer Miguel Ángel del Río and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti questioned his participation in the operation. Del Rio wrote: He added: “Associate Judge Abu Shihab, who gave the main vote on the Petro campaign’s punishment, was a lawyer for the Fico campaign in 2022, and he denounced us as members of the president’s campaign and issued dangerous notions against him, and his obstruction was clear.”
The post was echoed by Benedetti, who added: “CNE is pure politics. Representative Judge Abu Shehab was prevented from voting“.
President Gustavo Pietro also spoke about the CNE’s decision and the involvement of the associate judge. One of his posts stated: “How cute! They are punishing our campaign, Vico, Uribe, Nestor Martinez, for our campaign, through their lawyer who became a judge“.
Discussions of impediments are contained in Article 11 of Law 1437 of 2011, which specifies possible grounds as “to have a direct or indirect interest in the matter”, “to have conceived or issued an opinion on the matter being decided” and “to be a lawyer, representative or advisor to any of the parties”. The Public Disciplinary Code (Law 1952 of 2019) supplements these provisions by stipulating that an official must declare himself disabled when there are any circumstances that may affect his impartiality or impartiality..
Majer Nay Abu Shehab, a lawyer from the University of Del Rosario who holds a specialty and a master’s degree in criminal law, has developed his career in the field of litigation, university teaching, and consulting in public bodies. Between 2012 and 2016, he worked as a contractor for the Military Defense Office and then was an advisor to the then Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez in cases related to money laundering. In 2023, he aspires to become a judge in the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.
In 2022 he participated as a lawyer in the presidential campaign of Federico Gutierrez and He filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Justice against several figures from the historical charter, including Armando Benedetti, Isabel Zuleta, Sebastián Caballero, and Piedad Córdoba.. This precedent was one of those that Del Rio referred to to confirm that, from his point of view, it constitutes a reason for the impediment.