A former official at intelligence agency DAS, who was due to give evidence regarding illegal wiretapping carried out by the agency, was assassinated Thursday afternoon in Medellin, reports Caracol Radio.
David Antonio Ballen Garcia, a former DAS detective who left the agency three years ago, was shot by unknown gunmen on motorcycles while on his way to work, riding in a vehicle in the Patio Bonito area of El Poblado in Medellin. The driver of the vehicle and two other passengers, a woman and another former DAS employee, were injured.
Ballen Garcia appears on a list of witnesses made by the Prosecutor General’s Office in the case of illegal wiretapping carried out by DAS against political opponents, journalists and human rights activists. He was allegedly about to supply key information in the case to authorities.
Investigations in the wiretapping case have reached former President Alvaro Uribe, who is currently being investigated by the Colombian House of Representatives for his potential involvement. Uribe has always denied having any knowledge of the illegal surveillance.
Other witnesses, including former DAS official Rafael Garcia, have received death threats.