President of Colombia condemns police cadets who dressed up as Nazis in ceremony to honour Germany

The President of Colombia has condemned police cadets who dressed up as Nazis in a ceremony meant to honour Germany.

President Iván Duque said on Friday that “any apology for Nazism is unacceptable,” after images emerged last week showing the Simón Bolívar police academy in Tuluá displaying Nazi flags and other items and cadets were seen wearing swastika armbands. One cadet also appeared to have put on a Hitler moustache.

“I condemn any demonstration that uses or refers to symbols associated with those responsible for the Jewish Holocaust,” Mr Duque wrote on Twitter. He said that all those responsible would be held to account, with the head of the academy already dismissed.

The event was reportedly organised as part of an “international week” aimed at “strengthening the knowledge of our police students”.

The ambassadors of Israel and Germany urged Colombia to do more to educate people about the Holocaust.

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