Former Colombian army intelligence chief sentenced to 31 years in prison

A court has sentenced a former general to 31 years in prison for his role in the siege and destruction of the courthouse in the Colombian capital in 1985.

The Bogota High Court overturned a 2011 decision by a lower court that absolved former National Army intelligence chief Gen. Ivan Ramirez of charges of forced disappearance.

According to the regional court, Ramírez and retired colonel Fernando Blanco are responsible for the arrest and forced disappearance of Irma Franco, a member of the M-19 guerrilla group.

A day before his arrest, Franco and around 30 other M-19 guerrillas took more than 300 hostages, including 11 members of the Supreme Court, inside the Palace of Justice.

In response, the army command ordered its soldiers to destroy the building and kill everyone inside.

This military offensive cost the lives of more than 100 people, including the captive judges of the Supreme Court.

The Colombian army never intended to spare the hostages during the siege of the Palace of Justice

Franco was able to escape from the Palace of Justice among a group of freed hostages.

However, military intelligence officials recognized her and she was arrested.

Franco was last seen being transported to the building of the unit commanded by Ramírez, the Operational Intelligence and Counterintelligence Command.

Ten other people who escaped from the Palais de Justice, most of them employees, disappeared the same day as Franco.

The military has long opposed investigations into the Palace of Justice siege, saying the M-19 was responsible for deaths during the guerrilla occupation and military attack.

Blanco remained active in the National Army until 1998 and also always denied any wrongdoing.

The JEP war crimes tribunal has opened an investigation into the former intelligence chief for his alleged role in the extermination of members of the Patriotic Union, a left-wing political party.

The former commander of the now-defunct AUC paramilitary organization, Salvatore Mancuso, accused Blanco of being a key player in creating the death squads that killed thousands during the armed conflict.