Ex-DAS official to sign plea bargain

The former head of counter-intelligence at Colombian security agency DAS, Jorge Alberto Lagos, will plead guilty of involvement in the illegal wiretapping of government critics in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The plea bargain struck between Lagos and the prosecutor general is dependent on a judge’s approval, which will be solicited in the presence of a representative from the Inspector General’s Office and lawyers representing the victims of the wiretapping.

The prosecution alleges that Lagos coordinated illegal surveillance on Supreme Court magistrates and Colombian Senators Piedad Cordoba and Gustavo Petro.

In May 2009 Lagos testified that he personally had talked to then-President Alvaro Uribe’s personal secretary Bernardo Moreno, and with presidential adviser Jose Obdulio Gaviria about the wiretapping.

Colombian Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras announced Tuesday a bill to liquidate the scandal-ridden DAS and replace it with a new security and intelligence agency.

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