The Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia has accepted for review this Wednesday several complaints against former president Gustavo Petro over the alleged hiring of some 40 women in exchange for sexual favors. The investigation focuses on the employment links made from the office of former senator María José Pizarro, representative of Petro's Pacto Histórico.
The high court has decided to study the complaint that involves both Pizarro and Petro over acts that are said to have taken place when the now president was part of Congress. The events under judicial scrutiny are situated between August 2022 and April 2023, a stage in which Mauricio Lizcano was director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (Dapre).
The case originates from the testimony of a 26-year-old official who stated that contracts and public positions were being offered in exchange for sexual favors during the period in which Petro was a congressman. The complainant maintained that there was a network of women "instrumentalized" and "tied" through contracts, including herself, to provide sexual services to Petro.
In response, Petro released a statement in which he speaks of a "coordinated attempt" at "intrusion" into his personal and sexual life, which, according to him, would be financed by sectors aligned with the current Colombian president, Abelardo de la Espriella.
"I have never given a contract in exchange for obtaining sexual relations. I would vomit on myself if I ever did something like that. In my personal life I have not subjected any woman. I have always placed freedom as a fundamental principle of my relationships. I have never forced anyone," he assured.
For her part, Pizarro has rejected the accusations made by her former worker, defending her career as a defender of women's rights and stressing that she would "never" endorse "situations like the one that is being hinted at".
"I have defended women's rights not in words, but as a cause for life; that has been, is and will continue to be a central conviction of my political exercise," she stated in declarations collected by the Colombian station Blu Radio.