Colombia troops jailed for deaths

6 July 2011 Last updated at 19:27 GMT The "false positive" scandal has provoked protests in Colombia, as with this demonstration in Bogota A court in Colombia has sentenced eight soldiers to 60 years each in jail for killing four farmers and then claiming the men were left-wing guerrillas.

It is the latest prosecution in the so-called "false-positive" scandal that first erupted in 2008.

Security forces are believed to have killed thousands of civilians and passed them off as guerrillas in order to falsely inflate their success rates.

They used these tallies to claim promotion and perks such as days off.

The specific events happened in 2006 in the area of Yarumal, in the province of Antioquia.

The soldiers claimed the victims - Enrique Piedrahita, John Edison Galeano, Jesus Alberto Londono and Juan Dario Arroyave - were guerrillas killed in combat.

In a statement, Colombia's Public Prosecutor's office said the prosecutor had proved beyond reasonable doubt that "the victims were taken from their houses by force, there was no fighting, and that the men were farmers who were shot in the back".

The convicted soldiers included one officer, Luis Gabriel Rueda Acevedo.

The "false positive" scandal first hit the headlines under former President Alvaro Uribe.

There have been a number of high-profile resignations and prosecutions since.

But hundreds more cases are still being investigated.

Buju Banton jailed for 10 years

23 June 2011 Last updated at 14:57 GMT Family members and fans pleaded with the judge for leniency Grammy-award-winning star Buju Banton has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in the US for his role in setting up a cocaine deal in 2009.

The singer, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was told at Tampa federal court that he must serve five years' probation following prison.

Previously the Dancehall artist had insisted in court that he had been merely boasting about the deal.

Prosecutors conceded he had never put money into a deal or profitted from it.

His record Before the Dawn won best reggae album at the Grammy Awards ceremony earlier this year.

In February the star was convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it, along with a further drug trafficking offence and a gun charge.

He was acquitted of a fourth charge for attempted cocaine possession

It was Banton's second trial - his first ended in September when the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Much of the case hinged on video and audio recordings taken by an informant and by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel.

The informant was paid $50,000 (£31,000) after Banton's arrest in December 2009, along with two others.

One video shown to the jury showed Banton apparently tasting cocaine in a Florida warehouse.

A co-defendant later gave the informant $135,000 (£83,705). He and another man pleaded guilty to drug charges in the case.