Pubdate: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX JUDGE WHO DEFIED DRUG CARTEL SEEKS ASYLUM WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A former Colombian judge who defied death threats and signed a warrant for the arrest of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar 12 years ago has applied for political asylum in the United States, her lawyer said yesterday. Consuelo Sanchez has been Colombian consul in Detroit and Washington since signing that warrant in 1988, but Colombia's government ended her diplomatic post Tuesday. Sanchez, 44, fears her life will still be in danger if she returns to Colombia, even though Escobar has been dead for seven years and his Medelln drug cartel dismantled, her lawyer Michael Maggio said. The State Department would not confirm or deny the request, saying it never comments on asylum cases. A leading U.S. rights group wrote to Colombian President Andres Pastrana urging him to continue protecting Sanchez. "Judge Sanchez showed uncommon courage and dedication to the cause of justice. She became an international symbol of the risks Colombians take to combat drug trafficking," wrote Human Rights Watch director for the Americas, Jose Miguel Vivanco. Escobar was the world's top trafficker of cocaine based in Medelln. He was killed there in 1993 in a rooftop shootout with police after an intense U.S.-backed search. Sanchez was Colombia's youngest judge when she signed the arrest warrant in August 1988, despite threats from the cartel that she would be hounded "until her dying day." Four days later, the Colombian government sent her to the United States for her safety, as consul in Detroit. Sanchez was moved to Washington after six months when a local newspaper wrote about her. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D