Police sues Narváez to recover $564 million paid to Jaime Garzón's family
The General Directorate of the National Police filed a recovery suit against former DAS director José Miguel Narváez for the murder of journalist Jaime Garzón in 1999.
Police seek to make Narváez assume compensation paid to Garzón's siblings
The General Directorate of the National Police filed a recovery suit against José Miguel Narváez, former DAS director sentenced in 2018 to 30 years in prison as the instigator of the murder of journalist and comedian Jaime Garzón. According to elcolombiano.com, the legal action seeks to have Narváez reimburse part of the $564 million that the Ministry of Defence paid in 2025 to the communicator's siblings as reparation for his death.
Garzón's murder occurred on 13 August 1999, when he was travelling to his workplace in Bogotá. The crime was classified as one of the most serious episodes of violence against journalists in Colombia. More than two decades later, its judicial and economic consequences remain unresolved.
Background: the State Council declared the Nation responsible
The origin of the compensation can be traced to a decision by the State Council in September 2016, in which the Nation was declared responsible for Garzón's death. In that ruling, various entities were implicated, including the National Police and the National Army, ordered to provide reparation to the journalist's family members.
In compliance with that order, the Ministry of Defence paid in 2025 the sum of $564 million to María Soledad and Manuel Alfredo Garzón, siblings of the communicator.
The Police now argue that this money should not be borne exclusively by the State. The entity contends that the criminal conviction against Narváez established that his actions were decisive in the planning of the murder, and that therefore he has a legal duty to respond financially for those resources.
The lawsuit: Narváez allegedly instigated Castaño to order the crime
According to the text of the lawsuit revealed by Cambio magazine, Narváez allegedly provided information to then-paramilitary chief Carlos Castaño linking Garzón to guerrilla groups. Furthermore, he allegedly insisted with Castaño that he order the murder.
"Mr. José Miguel Narváez Martínez is under a legal duty to reimburse the entirety of the assets that the National Police paid for the damages and losses that his conduct caused, by the death of Mr. Jaime Hernando Garzón Forero", states the court document.
During the criminal proceedings, the Public Prosecutor's Office gathered testimonies and documents aimed at demonstrating Narváez's participation. The evidence indicates that the former Deputy Director of Intelligence of the DAS and the former Intelligence Chief of the 13th Army Brigade, General Jorge Eliécer Plazas Acevedo, conducted surveillance against the journalist and shared the information collected with Castaño, to whom they suggested ordering the murder.
The role of the AUC and previous convictions
According to testimonies entered into the case file, Garzón's work as a mediator in kidnapping cases linked to the FARC, and his efforts to promote a de-escalation of the conflict, led the two state agents to label him as close to the guerrilla. That interpretation allegedly motivated the request to Castaño to attempt against his life.
The murder was carried out by members of the criminal gang known as "La Terraza", by order of the supreme leader of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), Carlos Castaño Gil.
Among the key testimonies in the proceedings are those of Jorge Iván Laverde, alias "El Iguano", a former member of the AUC, who in a statement before the Justice and Peace Prosecutor's Office linked Narváez to the murder. Former paramilitary commanders also testified, such as Salvatore Mancuso and Freddy Rendón Herrera, alias "El Alemán", who stated that Narváez had links with paramilitary structures and had allegedly participated in training activities in their camps.
At the time of the crime, according to the lawyers of the Garzón family, Narváez worked as an advisor to the Armed Forces.
Carlos Castaño was sentenced in March 2004 to 38 years in prison for this crime. The sentence against Narváez came years later: in 2018 he was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment as the instigator of the murder. Narváez was also prosecuted for the murder of United Patriotic Union senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas, which occurred in 1994.
Economic consequences of criminal liability
With the new recovery suit, the National Police seek to ensure that the liability established in the criminal proceedings also produces direct economic effects against Narváez, and that he be the one to respond for the resources that the State has allocated to provide reparation to the family of the journalist murdered 26 years ago.
Source: Google News CO — Crime