Trial of Uribe’s former secretary resumes

The trial of ex-President Alvaro Uribe’s former secretary for his involvement in resumed Monday.

BACKGROUND: Colombia’s Dirty War: ‘Chuzadas’ and the future of the DAS

The trial marks the first return to court for the former chief of staff Bernardo Moreno Villegas since March 13, when he was freed by Bogota’s Superior Tribunal, who no longer considered him to pose any danger to the development of the case.

MORE: Uribe aide jailed over wiretap scandal to be released

Also charged in the case is the former director of Colombia’s now-defunct intelligence agency (DAS), Maria del Pilar Hurtado. Both are facing charges of conspiracy to commit crime, illegal data interception and abuse of office due to alleged involvement in the “chuzadas” scandal that engulfed Colombia’s DAS intelligence service, which engaged in illegal wiretapping.

Barrios stated before the Supreme Court on Monday that the document reveals a report of the meeting where “an agreement for [the] collaboration [of Don Berna] with the Supreme Court over the supply of information of political leaders linked with [now-defunct paramilitary group] the AUC.”

According to Barrios, the principal motivation for the meeting was to discuss the case of former Senator Luis Fernando Velasco, who at the time was faced with a penal process for alleged links with paramilitaries.

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