New evidence suggests that Andres Sepulveda’s wiretapping operation was much more extensive than originally suspected, Colombia media reported on Wednesday.
A day after his re-arrest, new charges were brought against presidential candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga’s former campaign worker, Andres Sepulveda, who was originally arrested for illegally wiretapping government dialogues with the FARC in Havana, according to reports by Semana Magazine.
MORE: Prosecutors arrest Zuluaga ‘peace talks hacker’ less than 24 hours after release
The new charges brought before the Prosecutor General’s Office on Wedndesday include aggravated conspiracy, aggravated abusive access to a computer system, using malicious software, violation of personal information, and espionage.
The prosecution exhibited evidence at Wednesday’s hearing indicating that Sepulveda worked with others to infiltrate a number of Colombian national databases and had the “objective” of infiltrating the computer systems of Central American governments as well, including Nicaragua.
According to a delegate from the Prosecutor General’s Technical Investigation Team (CTI), Sepulveda collaborated with Ecuadorian Bajaña Daniel Barragan and Spaniard Rafale Revert — now principal witnesses in the case — to illegally enter databases of the National Police, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the Operating Committee Laying Down Arms (CODA).
Among the evidence presented were a number of Skype conversations between Barragan and Sepulveda related to the presence and activities of the FARC in countries as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Ecuador.
“They made an agreement to improperly disclose political and military secrets on the dialogosavoces.com page [a website called ‘The truth about the lie of peace’],” said the prosecutor.
The prosecutor noted that Sepulveda’s objectives were to penetrate the computer systems of Nicaraguan institutions and other Central American judicial entities, according to a statement released by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Sepulveda is also being charged with hacking into Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’ social media accounts, and using malicious software to sabotage his election campaign.
After the hearing, the judge issued a second detention order against Sepulveda, who is now being held in prison as a “danger to society.”
Sources
- Sepúlveda, de regreso al búnker de la Fiscalía (Semana Magazine)
- A la cárcel fue enviado Andrés Sepúlveda por ser un peligro para la sociedad (Colombian Prosecutor General’s website)
- http://www.dialogosavoces.com/
