This is not the first time that prosecutors in this part of Colombia have used criminal charges to harass and intimidate human rights defenders who have criticized local officials. In 2007, Ivan Cepeda, the spokesperson for the Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE), denounced paramilitary links between the then-Mayor of Sincelejo, Jorge Blanco. A prosecutor later investigated Cepeda for criminal libel and slander. In July 2007, Members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the Colombian Attorney General regarding the criminal charges filed against Cepeda.

Read the letter: http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/07808-hrd-ivan-dear-colleague.pdf

The two cases may be related: Carmelo Agamez, Technical Secretary of MOVICE's Sucre chapter, organized the hearing at which Cepeda criticized the mayor, and Mayor Blanco's wife is now a main witness in the criminal investigation of Agamez.