Colombia’s Supreme Court granted bail on Friday, 9 October, to former Senate president Iván Name and former House of Representatives president Andrés Calle after their bribery trial failed to begin within the legal limit. The court’s Special First Instance Chamber, which tries members of Congress, approved a request from the men’s defence lawyers. The ruling didn’t clear them of the charges.
A deadline, and a price for release
The order, Auto AEP140-2026, applies Article 365 of Law 600 of 2000, the criminal procedure code governing the case. Under the rule, defendants may be released if a trial hasn’t opened within six months after charges become final; the limit extends to 12 months when the court orders evidence from abroad.
The charges against Iván Leónidas Name Vásquez and Andrés David Calle Aguas became final on 7 October 2025. The chamber said the extended deadline expired on Wednesday, 7 October 2026. The two men had been held in the case since 7 May 2025.
Release comes with a substantial financial condition. Each man must post bail of 10 monthly minimum wages, or 17,509,050 pesos, about US$5,400, either in cash or through an insurance policy. They must also sign a written commitment and give the court an exact address where officials can find them. If they break those conditions, they could face a fine and lose their release.
La Picota prison in southern Bogotá, where both men were held, must first check whether another authority wants them. The parties can challenge the order through reconsideration or an appeal. The court set no date for a trial hearing, and it’s still unknown when the men will leave prison.
The chamber said it had heard 12 witnesses since March and worked to obtain documents ordered as evidence. It said neither its negligence nor defence stalling tactics caused the delay. In April, the same chamber had refused to release the men, ruling that the deadline was 12 months, not six. The Supreme Court’s Criminal Cassation Chamber upheld that decision on 22 July.
Allegations tied to disaster relief
The case concerns alleged corruption at UNGRD, Colombia’s national disaster risk management unit, which handles relief after floods, droughts and earthquakes. The indictment alleges senior officials in former president Gustavo Petro’s government agreed in September 2023 to pay the heads of both congressional chambers in return for support for pension and health reforms.
According to the indictment, officials delivered the money between 12 and 14 October 2023. Name was allegedly to receive 3 billion pesos, about US$927,000, and Calle 1 billion pesos, about US$309,000. The allegations link proposed payments to congressional support for legislation: senior officials and political leaders made decisions with public disaster-relief resources at the center of the case.
The indictment says the money came from a loan that officials later repaid with a kickback from a contract for 40 water trucks intended for La Guajira, a desert region on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The contract was worth 46.8 billion pesos, about US$14.5 million. Olmedo López and Sneyder Pinilla, the agency’s former director and deputy director, are key witnesses.
The case remains unresolved
Evidence still pending includes testimony from Carlos Ramón González, who headed the presidency’s administrative department under Petro. González also faces investigation in the scandal and has been in Nicaragua for more than two years. The report said no one knew whether he’d testify or whether any party would challenge the release.
Name and Calle reject the accusations and remain presumed innocent unless a court rules otherwise. In a separate case, a court has barred Name from Congress for life over absences from Senate debates on pension reform. The bail ruling addresses release while the case proceeds; it isn’t a verdict, and no verdict date has been set.