EL TIEMPO exclusively learned of a provisional measure just issued by the 120th municipal criminal court with jurisdiction over the use of the Colombian National Team jersey by Abelardo De La Espriella’s campaign.
According to the document, not only is the tutela action filed by William Bocanegra admitted, but it also argues that the right to equality, non-discrimination, and to elect and be elected must be guaranteed. Furthermore, the requested provisional measure is granted, ordering De La Espriella to immediately refrain from using or displaying the official Colombian National Team jersey in his campaign and advertising, on social media and other media.
The arguments
EL TIEMPO exclusively learned of the decision that will be notified to the campaign in the coming hours, which states that among the judge’s arguments for ordering candidate Abelardo De La Espriella and his party Defensores de la Patria to refrain from using or displaying the official Colombian National Team jersey for football is that using it as a symbol of his campaign curtails the right to equality of its use compared to the other presidential candidate, to his potential voters, among whom is the plaintiff, given that the improper use of said jersey is being biased towards the candidacy of the defendant and his political party.
“This constitutional body must specify that in these moments of electoral juncture, the two candidates who have advanced to the second round to soon define their election as President of the Republic for the period 2026 to 2030, it is important to safeguard certain minimum rights that belong to the entire social conglomerate that is part of this nation, which has been established as a Social, Democratic, participatory, pluralistic State, founded on respect for human dignity, on the work and solidarity of the people who comprise it, and on the prevalence of the general interest, as stated in Article 1 of the Political Constitution,” reads the decision known by EL TIEMPO.
Furthermore, it states that the use of the jersey or any other distinctive emblem thereof must be used in appropriate settings, such as sports competitions: “Where its message must clearly be directed towards a sporting practice and not a political one.”
And it adds: “Logically, when used by the presidential candidate here sued, Mr. Abelardo Gabriel de la Espriella Otero, and other members of his political party Defensores de la Patria, they logically imbue said jersey or any emblem of the Colombian National Football Team, with a different symbol from the one for which it was created and designed, biased towards said candidacy, when the ideal is that, basically, in the electoral contest currently taking place throughout the country, the neutrality of political campaigns regarding the use of one national symbol or another should be safeguarded.”
(Consult all articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit here)
Furthermore, it was ordered to involve the National Electoral Council (CNE), the Defensores de La Patria Party, and the Colombian Football Federation to report what influence they have in the facts and claims of the tutela lawsuit.
In any case, the decision does not mention anything about the use of the jersey by De La Espriella’s followers.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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