By Luis Jaime Acosta and Oliver Griffin
BOGOTA (Reuters) – The mayor of Bogota apologized sunday and called for reconciliation after protests in the Colombian capital last week left 10 civilians dead and many wounded.
Protests in Bogota and the satellite city of Soacha began after the death on Wednesday of Javier Ordóñez, 46. A widely shared video showed that the father of two had been caught with a paralyzing gun through the police and then died in a hospital.
During Wednesday’s protests, seven young men, in addition to teenagers, were killed after being shot dead in Bogota; three other people were killed in Thursday night’s protests, adding a woman who was hit by a stolen public bus.
Three other people also died in Soacha during the protests.
The mayor of Bogota, Claudia López, for reconciliation after the clashes and apologized to the relatives of the victims.
“We are here today to apologize to everyone who suffered police brutality,” Lopez said on a televised occasion to commemorate those who died during the protests.
Relatives of those affected called for justice, but said the other protests deserve to be peaceful.
“We are asking for justice, because we know of other incidents of this kind that have gone unpunished and we don’t need the same for each of those victims,” said Bryan Baquero, whose sister Angie murdered in the protests.
Later on Sunday, crowds of protesters marched through central Bogota, with clashes between protesters and policemen in some locations.
Last week, many civilians were wounded in clashes between protesters and policemen in Soacha and Bogota, and dozens were shot and wounded in the capital.
Nearly 200 police officers were also injured, while at least 60 police stations were vandalized, as well as dozens of transit vehicles.
Police said Ordóñez discovered drinking alcohol on the street with friends in violation of coronavirus estating rules. Two policemen involved in Ordóñez’s death were ignored and face charges of murder and abuse of authority.
Five officials related to his death have been suspended.
(Report through Luis Jaime Acosta and Oliver Griffin; Editing through Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)