Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office Wednesday officially requested international police organization Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for the country’s former spy chief, who is charged with illegally wiretapping government opponents.
The former director of intelligence agency DAS, Maria del Pilar Hurtado, fled Colombia in November and was granted political asylum in Panama, while prosecutors were preparing the case against her for allegedly ordering the illegal wiretapping of Supreme Court magistrates, journalists, human rights groups and opposition politicians.
The Supreme Court confirmed the Prosecutor General’s Office’s arrest warrant in May when the former DAS director was charged. Following the charges, Panama’s President, Ricardo Martinelli, said his country will not extradite Colombia’s former spy chief.
Del Pilar is one of a number of high former government officials implicated in the wiretap scandal. Former President Alvaro Uribe is being investigated by Congress, while his former chief of staff, like Del Pilar Hurtado, is charged for allegedly ordering the wiretaps. Several high intelligence officials are already in jail over the scandal and the government is in the process of dismantling the scandal-ridden intelligence agency.