The director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS resigned following
the news the DAS had been spying on opposition senator Gustavo Petro
(Polo Democrático). President Álvaro Uribe accepted the director’s
resignation.
Maria del Pilar Hurtado offered her resignation Thursday one day after saying she would take full responsibility for the shadowing of one of the country’s senators.
Petro had denounced the investigation, saying the DAS was conducting an investigation into his whereabouts. According to the senator, the orders from the investigation had come directly from the President who wanted proof of the senator’s contact with illegal armed groups. The senator’s party, social democrats Polo Democrático was also investigated the lawmaker said.
Both Uribe and del Pilar deny the official worked on direct orders coming from the President or higher officials and say the investigation into Gustavo Petro was conducted without any knowledge of his superiors.
Polo Democratico accuses the government of persecuting the opposition and announced to denounce the investigation before international courts and parliaments.