Colombia prosecutors order arrest of 4 army commanders suspected of wiretapping peace talks

(Photo: El Espectador)

Colombia’s chief prosecutor announced on Wednesday that his office will order the arrest of four members of the security forces who allegedly are involved in wiretapping of ongoing peace talks with FARC rebels in Havana, Cuba.

The four suspects are accused of illegally intercepting information from government delegates and journalists attending the Havana peace talks, according to the Prosecutor General Eduardo Montealegre.

A number of Military Intelligence officials have already been suspended over a covert operation that was first discovered in February and revived just before elections in May when media reported the classified documents had been sent to the campaign of Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, the conservative opposition politician who unsuccessfully challenged sitting President Juan Manuel Santos.

In a radio interview with Caracol, Montealegre stated that the four are mid-level Army commanders, and that after interrogating Andres Sepulveda, allegedly the main hacker within the Zuluaga campaign, they found these four involved in selling intelligence information.

MORE: Zuluaga campaign worker indicted for espionage and conspiracy

The wiretapping scandal was revived again on Saturday when Humberto De La Calle, the government’s chief negotiator at the peace talks with rebel group FARC, said that hackers continued to break into his personal emails and online communications in spite of the dismantling of the illegal “Andromeda” project earlier this year.

In response to the latest alleged cyber attacks, the government claimed to have increased online security to ensure that hackers could not obtain information and derail the peace talks which have been taking place in Havana, Cuba since November 2012.

MORE: Colombia to increase peace talks cyber security after new attack

Sources

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