Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has asked the Supreme Court to approve the extradition of the country’s former intelligence chief who fled to Panama after being tied to illegal wiretapping practices, reported local media.
The Court will analyze the arguments presented by the PGO and determine whether the request is approved.
The PGO has recently requested that Interpol issue an international arrest warrant against Maria del Pilar Hurtado, the former director of the now-defunct intelligence agency DAS.
MORE: Colombia requests international warrant for former spy chief hiding in Panama
The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court has confirmed a request for extradition proceedings to begin against Hurtado.
Prosecutors in Colombia have accused the former intelligence director of having been one of the main suspects in a case involving the illegal wiretapping of Supreme Court magistrates, journalists, human rights organizations and politicians critical of the then-administration of former President Alvaro Uribe.
The application in Colombia formally joins that made by the PGO to the Panamanian authorities through the Office of International Affairs.
The disgraced intelligence director fled Colombia in 2010 before an arrest warrant could be brought against her for conspiracy, illegal interception of communication, abuse of public power, and fraud.
FACT SHEET: DAS wiretapping scandal
Del Pilar Hurtado received political asylum in Panama in November 2010 after claiming she had fallen victim to political persecution, and she has been residing in the country ever since.