Panama says it will not withdraw the political asylum of the former director of Colombia’s intelligence agency DAS even if Bogota issues an international arrest warrant.
In an interview with CNN en Español, Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli said that former DAS director Maria del Pilar Hurtado, suspected of having ordered the illegal wiretapping of government opponents, has “political asylum … She will stay in Panama.”
Del Pilar Hurtado fled Colombia after judicial authorities came closer to issuing an arrest warrant against her in a scandal implicating several of the closest aides to former President Alvaro Uribe, who are suspected of illegally having ordered the wiretapping of supreme court judges, journalists, politicians and human rights workers.
Panama’s decision to grant political asylum led to fierce reactions in Colombia, where critics accused Panama of undermining Colombia’s justice system.