As Colombia burnt with protests, the country’s Defence Minister apologised o behalf pf the national police and administration for police brutality.

The country erupted in protests after the death of a detained man. These protests have lit the cities of Bohota and Soacha on fire. Several hundreds have been injured, while 13 people have lost their lives.

“The national police apologize for any violation of the law or ignorance of regulations by any members of the institution,” Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said in a video message Friday morning.

The protests started after a 46-year-old man, Javier Ordonez, was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by police while he was pinned to the ground and kept begging to stop with cries of ‘Please, no more’. The incident was caught on a video and was widely circulated in the country, which led to the wide outrage Ordonez, later, died in the hospital where he was undergoing treatment.

President Ivan Duque said Friday evening that all the deaths would be investigated swiftly and no abuse by security forces would be tolerated.

Also read| Colombia: Death toll rises to 10 in rioting over police killing

Police said Ordonez was found drinking alcohol in the street with friends in violation of coronavirus distancing rules. Two police officers implicated in Ordonez`s death have been fired and face charges of abusing authority and homicide. A further five officers connected to his death have been suspended.

Urging his citizens to exercise peace, Duque said during his nightly television broadcast, “We will work quickly so the events in which their loved ones died can have not only clarification but model sentences.”

ndreds of protestors have been injured in the clash between the police and locals. Around 200 police officers have also been injured. At least 60 police stations have been vandalized, as well as dozens of public transport vehicles. Some 140 people have been arrested for vandalism, Duque said.