Court rules Medina not wiretap victim

Despite her request, jailed former congresswoman Yidis Medina will not be identified as a victim of the illegal wiretapping carried out by Colombian intelligence agency DAS.

Medina was sentenced to four years and two months under house arrest last October for accepting bribes in exchange for supporting a change in the constitution to allow former President Alvaro Uribe to run for a second term in 2006.

On February 2, 2011, Medina requested during an ongoing trial of three former DAS members that she be considered a victim of the illegal surveillance, stating that the evidence used in the case against her before the Supreme Court was obtained illegally by the DAS.

However, a judge ruled on Friday in Bogota that Medina’s request is inadmissible due to the facts in her case differing substantially from the ones in the case to which she presented her claim, reports Caracol Radio.

Though initially sentenced to house arrest, Medina was jailed in November last year for violating the terms of her arrest.

Furthermore,in January this year, separate accusations against the disgraced former senator surfaced with ex-paramilitary leader Rodrigo Perez Alzate accusing her of being “personal friends” with many paramilitary bosses.

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