Colombia’s intelligence service DAS continues to illegally wiretap
government critics in the press, Congress and the Supreme Court,
despite the fact numerous officials are already in jail awaiting trial
for the illegal practices, leading weekly Semana reported Sunday.
According to the magazine, the criminal investigation against high DAS officials and even former directors of the service has not stopped the illegal wiretapping. On the contrary, it has gotten worse.
The intelligence agency is now accused of also shadowing presidential candidates and Congressmen whose vote in favor or against the referendum needed for Uribe’s candidacy is insecure.
The DAS is using both active and retired officials to shadow its subjects and is covering its illegal activities by using unregistered wiretapping equipment, the weekly reports.
“Some of the equipment they are working with were hidden from the Prosecutor General and the Inspector General during the investigation into the tapping. Two weeks ago this equipment was brought from outside Bogota to shadow members of Congress because of the referendum vote,” an anonymous source from within the DAS told Semana.
DAS director Felipe Muñoz immediately asked Semana to hand over the recordings the weekly has in its possession, a number of which were published on the weekly’s website.
Acting Prosecutor General Guillermo Mendoza Diago announced on Monday that he will investigate Semana’s new accusation.