COLOMBIA: The man who murdered Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar in 1994 is released from prison

Record ID: 587977

  • Title: COLOMBIA: The man who murdered Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar in 1994 is released from prison
  • Date: 6th October 2005
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (OCTOBER 06, 2005) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN CITIZEN, HERNAN VILLAMARIN, SAYING: "It seems to me that it was very quick. It seems that he [Munoz Castro] didn't finish paying for everything that he [Andres Escobar] gave to us. He was one of the best soccer players in the country." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN CITIZEN, DANIEL MORENO, SAYING: "Here, Colombian laws have reductions and if he [Munoz Castro] had the right to these reductions, I think he fulfilled his sentence."
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2005 13:00
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  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAD2HEGLGOJ7CLMLPOI7EZTJ25A
  • Story Text: The man who murdered Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar in 1994 was released from prison on Wednesday (October 5) for "good behaviour" after serving eleven years of a forty-three-year sentence.
    A judge in the city of Medellin, capital of Antioquia located some 220 kilometres northeast of Bogota, granted the release of Humberto Munoz Castro. Munoz Castro had been sentenced to forty-three years in prison in June of 1995 for the crime of aggravated homicide.
    The judge ruled that Munoz Castro had fulfilled a fourth of his sentence, and that during his eleven years in jail had demonstrated good behaviour and obtained reductions in his sentence for studying and working.
    The President of the Court of Antioquia also explained that his early release came in part to changes in the penal code.
    "In 2000, the sentence was reduced because law 599 of that year modified the sentence for aggravated homicide, lowering it - it had been between 40 and 60 years and it was lowered to between 25 and 40 years and the reduction for him [Munoz Castro] then dropped to 26 years," said Pedro Cevallos Maya.
    But the release came with the qualification that Munoz Castro will have to appear before judicial authorities periodically.
    Still that wasn't enough for Escobar's father, Dario Escobar, who was outraged.
    "I am very indignant and the Colombian citizens, the good people, have to be indignant with measures such as these because what are we doing in this country? We are protecting criminals and for this reason, the country is going backwards," he said.
    Many Colombian citizens were upset by the early release of Munoz Castro.
    "It seems to me that it was very quick. It seems that he [Munoz Castro] didn't finish paying for everything that he [Andres Escobar] gave to us. He was one of the best soccer players in the country," said Hernan Villamarin.
    But others thought the release was reasonable.
    "Here, Colombian laws have reductions and if he [Munoz Castro] had the right to these reductions, I think he fulfilled his sentence," said Daniel Moreno.
    Munoz Castro shot and killed Escobar outside a Medellin restaurant on July 2, 1994 after Escobar had caused Colombia's elimination from the 1994 World Cup by making a crucial error in its first game.
    Escobar had accidentally scored a goal on his own team during a match against the United States on June 22, 1994 causing Colombia to lose, 2-1 and become the first team eliminated from the tournament.
    The Colombian team had been favoured to beat the U.S. after defeating Argentina 5-0 in the South American qualifying rounds.
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