Opposition hacker gets 10 years for spying on Colombia peace process

A Colombian court sentenced a former employee of a presidential candidate in the 2014 elections to 10 years in prison after he admitted to spying on the government’s peace talks with the FARC, and accepted the prosecution’s offer of a reduced penalty in exchange for his cooperation.

Hacker Andres Sepulveda was judged guilty of five crimes, including illegal interception and espionage, according to the sentence handed down by the a Bogota court.

He must also pay a fine worth approximately $30,000 as part of the agreement.

The Internet pirate was arrested in May 2014 after being traced to secret offices that hacked confidential information and messages, including one whose objective was to sabotage the peace process.

Several months earlier he had been contracted by the Colombian presidential campaign of then-candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga of the Democratic Center Party, led by ex-President and Senator Alvaro Uribe.

Before hearing the sentence, Sepulveda read a statement to the effect that he offered no apologies to the FARC but did apologize to the armed forces and the Colombian police.

“I deeply regret the damage I caused them. Every day I regret the damage caused to their good name and honor,” he said.

He also begged pardon of “everyone who has taken part in the investigative process,” the prosecutors, police of the judiciary, attorneys and judges.

Sepulveda intercepted communications of FARC negotiators, of the top guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, alias “Timochenko,” and of Liberal ex-Senator Piedad Cordoba, among others.

The scandal dominated the 2014 elections, led to the resignation of Zuluaga’s campaign manager Luis Alfonso Hoyos only weeks before the hotly contested elections, and spurred criminal investigations against Sepulveda, Hoyos, and the presidential candidate’s son.