JUDGE WHO DEFIED DRUG CARTEL SEEKS ASYLUM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A former Colombian judge who defied death threats
and signed a warrant for the arrest of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar 12 years
ago has applied for political asylum in the United States, her lawyer said
yesterday.

Consuelo Sanchez has been Colombian consul in Detroit and Washington since
signing that warrant in 1988, but Colombia's government ended her
diplomatic post Tuesday.

Sanchez, 44, fears her life will still be in danger if she returns to
Colombia, even though Escobar has been dead for seven years and his Medelln
drug cartel dismantled, her lawyer Michael Maggio said.

The State Department would not confirm or deny the request, saying it never
comments on asylum cases.

A leading U.S. rights group wrote to Colombian President Andres Pastrana
urging him to continue protecting Sanchez.

"Judge Sanchez showed uncommon courage and dedication to the cause of
justice. She became an international symbol of the risks Colombians take to
combat drug trafficking," wrote Human Rights Watch director for the
Americas, Jose Miguel Vivanco.

Escobar was the world's top trafficker of cocaine based in Medelln. He was
killed there in 1993 in a rooftop shootout with police after an intense
U.S.-backed search.

Sanchez was Colombia's youngest judge when she signed the arrest warrant in
August 1988, despite threats from the cartel that she would be hounded
"until her dying day."

Four days later, the Colombian government sent her to the United States for
her safety, as consul in Detroit. Sanchez was moved to Washington after six
months when a local newspaper wrote about her.