The director of Colombia’s financial intelligence agency, who was under house arrest while awaiting trial for the illegal spying on supreme court magistrates, was set free after prosecutors failed to call the official to trial on time.
UIAF director Mario Aranguren was arrested in May 2010 and ordered house arrest while the Prosecutor General’s Office was preparing the trial against him for his role in the wiretap scandal that involved the illegal spying on journalists, supreme court magistrates, politicians and human rights organizations by state intelligence agencies.
According to a Bogota judge, the 10-month delay in the investigation no longer justifies Aranguren’s house arrest and he is allowed to await his trial in freedom.
Aranguren is suspected of having illegally investigated the finances of Supreme Court magistrates during a period that tensions were high between the country’s highest court and former President Alvaro Uribe.
The illegal wiretapping caused international indignation and is investigated by both Colombian and international judicial authorities.