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BOGOTA: Colombian police probing the attempted assassination of a prominent right-wing presidential candidate arrested on Saturday a man they believe hired the teenager accused of pulling the trigger.

Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez was described by police as a key planner of the June 7 attack on conservative senator Miguel Uribe, who remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Arteaga Hernandez organized “the before of the attack, the during, and the after,” said police chief Carlos Fernando Triana Beltran.

Uribe, 39, was shot three times, including twice in the head, during a campaign rally in a park in Bogota.

Police have now arrested five suspects, including the 15-year-old alleged hitman.

Arteaga Hernandez, who has a long criminal record and a file with Interpol, coordinated the attack, hired the shooter and provided him with a gun, police said.

The shooter is believed to belong to a network of contract killers.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Arteaga Hernandez “had allegedly negotiated the execution of the crime” for the equivalent of about $250,000.

“He planned the cover, the movements, and even ordered one of his accomplices to be silenced after the incident,” Sanchez posted on X.

Uribe’s attorney, Victor Mosquera, has said the probe had revealed a “structured organization” with a “history of attacks on right-wing leaders.”

Uribe, a member of the Democratic Center party, announced his intention last October to run in the May 2026 presidential election.

MELBOURNE: A man was charged Sunday over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue in an apparent escalation of antisemitic violence in Australia’s second-most populous city.

Angelo Loras, 34, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court Sunday charged with arson, endangering life and property damage. He was also charged with possessing a “controlled weapon” on Saturday when he was arrested. The charge sheet does not say what that weapon was.

The Sydney resident did not enter a plea or apply to be released on bail. Magistrate John Lesser remanded Loras in custody to appear in court next on July 22.

Flammable liquid was ignited at the door of the East Melbourne Synagogue, also known as the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, on Friday night as 20 worshippers shared a Shabbat meal inside.

The congregation escaped without harm via a rear door and firefighters contained the blaze to the entrance area of the 148-year-old building.

It was the first of three apparent displays of antisemitic violence across the city on Friday and early Saturday morning.

Authorities have yet to establish a link between incidents at the synagogue and two businesses.

Antisemitism blamed for attacks on businesses

Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant.

A restaurant window was cracked, tables were flipped and chairs thrown as protesters chanted “Death to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. A 28-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and charged with hindering police.

Police are also investigating the spray-painting of a business in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and an arson attack on three vehicles attached to the business before dawn on Saturday. The vehicles had also been graffitied.

Police said there were antisemitic “inferences” at the scene. The business had also been the target of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the past year.

Political leaders condemn antisemitism

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke met with Jewish leaders at the damaged synagogue on Sunday.

Burke told reporters that investigators were searching for potential links between the three incidents.

“At this stage, our authorities have not drawn links between them. But obviously there’s a link in antisemitism. There’s a link in bigotry. There’s a link in a willingness to either call for violence, to chant violence or to take out violent actions. They are very much linked in that way,” Burke said.

“There were three attacks that night and none of them belonged in Australia. Arson attacks, the chanting calls for death, other attacks and graffiti — none of it belonged in Australia and they were attacks on Australia,” Burke added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Australian government to “take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future.”

“I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday.

“The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of ‘death to the IDF’ and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted,” he added.