Colombian court orders release of Jeffrey Epstein travel records

A Colombian court has ordered the country’s immigration authorities to disclose records linked to visits by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell after a legal dispute over public access to the information.

The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca department in central Colombia ruled that the information held by Migracion Colombia was “of high public interest” and concerned a matter requiring “citizen oversight”.

The decision emerged on Monday after the immigration agency had previously denied journalists access to the records, citing “national security and personal data protection reasons".

Former Colombian president named in released files

Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana, who led the country from 1998 to 2002, is referenced multiple times in files released by the US Justice Department connected to Epstein’s crimes.

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Pastrana travelled on Epstein’s private aircraft in 2003 and also appeared in emails that suggested a close relationship with Epstein and Maxwell. A photograph from 2002 also shows Pastrana and Maxwell together wearing Colombian Air Force uniforms.

Maxwell’s claims in declassified emails

In declassified emails, Maxwell claimed she flew a Blackhawk military helicopter in Colombia and fired from the air at a guerrilla group operating in the Amazon. Pastrana has acknowledged meeting Epstein and Maxwell several times, though he maintains the encounters were formal.

He also confirmed that Maxwell took a short flight in Colombia but denied claims that she carried out attacks from the aircraft. The former president further insisted that he never visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island, where the financier allegedly trafficked women and minors and made them available to businessmen and political figures.

Epstein case continues to draw scrutiny

Epstein maintained longstanding connections with political and business elites across the world. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. He died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Although his death was officially ruled a suicide, questions have continued to surround the case because of reported security failures at the jail and missing CCTV footage.