wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Man who threatened Colombian pastor escapes jail

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Note #7662 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Man who threatened Colombian pastor escapes jail
03181
April 4, 2003

Man who threatened Colombian pastor escapes jail

Presbyterian Church of Colombia stated clerk is watching his step

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - A man accused of threatening a Presbyterian minister and his
family in Colombia has escaped from jail, according to the Presbyterian
Church of Colombia.
	
Nicolas Alfonso Pezzano Bornacelly, a Colombian paramilitary leader, was
arrested in Barranquilla, in northern Colombia, in November, 2002, and was
awaiting trial for making phone calls threatening the life of the Rev. Milton
Mejia, stated clerk of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia.
	
According to the church, police tracked the calls to Mejia directly to
Bornacelly. 
	
"The caller wanted me to collaborate (with his group)  but it was not clear
how," said Mejia during an April 4 telephone interview with the Presbyterian
News Service. "Sometimes it looked like they wanted money, sometimes like
they wanted me to stop doing what I was doing -- the church's work with
displaced people and other human rights work."
	
The caller threatened both Mejia and his wife, as well as their two sons,
aged nine and five.
	
Mejia said he decided not to make the threats public at the time so that
police could quietly search for the suspect.
	
Mejia's lawyer recently learned that Bornacelly is no longer in custody.
Government authorities said he escaped.
	
"This is a very dangerous situation," said the Rev. Pablo J. Noguera of
Bogata, who is currently on a speaking tour in U.S. churches at the
invitation of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. "Now we don't know what
they can do against Milton . We have to really be concerned. We have to be
alert about security for our brother, Milton."
	
The moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia sent letters to partner
churches on April 4, including the Presbyterian Church (USA). In the letter,
the Rev. Diego Higuita asked the international community to be aware that the
church may need help protecting Mejia and his family should "an emergency
situation" arise. "For this reason, we ask for your prayers," he wrote,
adding that the church is taking safety measures.
	
On another other occasion, the PC(USA) helped finance the relocation of
another Colombian pastor who was threatened.
	
Higuita wrote that the Bornacelly case is an example of how "these
threatening situations are handled by legal authorities. The individual is
incarcerated, and later, to our dismay, is liberated without notice. The act
is totally unpunished and the victims remain unprotected."
	
Noguera said that pastors are frequently threatened in Colombia. "The first
thing the pastor worries about is the safety of his family," he said.
	
Mejia said he continues to work and family members are careful not to walk
alone, but "to always be together."
	
"This man was caught red-handed. He should have been watched under some kind
of high-alert. But he escaped," said Mejia.

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