Prosecutors indicted the former director of the now-defunct Colombian national intelligence agency, DAS, on Monday for illegal wiretapping.
Jorge Noguera, currently serving a 25-year sentence for previous convictions, was charged with authorizing illegal wiretaps on journalists, judges, human rights activists and other public officials and will be tried before the Supreme Court.
The prosecution argued that Noguera made “illegal use of transmitters and receivers” to monitor political opponents of former President Alvaro Uribe.
Noguera was incarcerated in a Bogota jail in 2008 for three years pending his 2011 trial. In September of 2011, the Supreme Court sentenced the ex-DAS director to 25 years in prison for facilitating the paramilitary infiltration of the intelligence organization, criminal conspiracy and the illegal use of privileged information.
Another 20 former government officials associated with the Uribe administrations have been investigated on charges related to unauthorized surveillance.
The wiretapping scandal was the primary motivation for Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to dismantle the organization and shift its responsibilities to other government agencies.
Although he denies such accusations, Noguera was also held responsible for the murder of university professor Alfredo Correa de Andreis. The academic was assassinated after Noguera passed information about Correa de Andreis to paramilitaries.
In addition to his sentence, the court ruled Noguera was barred from holding public office for 20 years and ordered he pay damages to the family of Correa de Andreis.
The former DAS chief was also implicated in the disappearance of a number of trade unionists, however the charges were not upheld.
Alvaro Uribe appointed Noguera as head of the DAS after he managed the former president’s succesful 2002 election campaign. Noguera held the post until 2005.
