Antioch
Caracol Radio learned for the first time that the Superior Court of Medellín, in its criminal court, ratified in the second instance the acquittal of the engineers Luis Guillermo Gómez Atehortúa and Luis Javier Vélez Duque, accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of violation of the Public Procurement Statute, in the contract for the start of the Ituango hydroelectric project in 2010.
In the 78-page document held by Caracol Radio, The Court states that the principles of transparency and objective selection were not violated, which are the ones that should govern public procurement.
According to the ruling, it was evident that The process was carried out in accordance with the regulations of Law 142 and 143 that govern the contracting of public service companies.
What were the arguments?
Second, EPM had been prequalified in a study that had been carried out to determine among which companies the most suitable bidder could be selected for the development of the project. In that selection there were seven companies of which the only Colombian one was Empresas Públicas de Medellín. The others were Chinese, Brazilian, among others, and from there it was decided that this would be the contractor.
And the last reason that the Court gave to confirm the acquittal is that The Prosecutor’s Office alleged that in that case a public auction or public tender had to be held.
More information
The Court agrees with the defense in the sense that, In that specific case, although it was a mega work, public bidding or public auction was not necessary, because the contracting rules for public service companies are the rules of private law and could occur through direct contracting.
Thus, according to the ruling, did not enter into a contract without legal requirements, the engineers Luis Guillermo Gómez Atehortúa and Luis Javier Vélez Duque, who had been charged by the prosecution.
This decision will be communicated by the court at 9:30 in the morning this Thursday, May 23.
