Colombia court orders President de la Espriella to hide social media videos of him with dead bodies

A Colombian judge has ordered President Abelardo de la Espriella to hide social media videos that appeared to show him walking among the bodies of alleged criminals, according to a court document accessed by AFP on Wednesday.

De la Espriella, who took office last month, has declared war on Colombia's myriad drug trafficking guerrilla groups, with his policy backed by US military support.

The Colombian military has since carried out three bombing raids that killed at least 42 people, including six minors, in the Amazon region and on the border with Venezuela.

De la Espriella was criticised after posting several graphic videos on the presidency's official Instagram account this month, where he was seen walking among bodies in white plastic bags.

A court in Bogota accepted a petition from a Green Party lawmaker who requested the removal of the videos from social media.

The court provisionally ordered the "concealment of the posts ... while a final ruling is pending", adding that the move did not imply a "definitive deletion", the court document read.

Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer and is grappling with its worst violence in a decade.

Read more Will Colombia's right-wing hardliner De la Espriella be able to govern?

The country has joined the Shield of the Americas, US President Donald Trump's anti-cartel alliance of Latin American countries including Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)