Colombian president's aides to be quizzed over illegal wiretaps

[Judi Lynn]

Colombian president's aides to be quizzed over illegal wiretaps
08 de julio de 2010

Bogota, Jul 8 (EFE).- The Colombian Attorney General's Office has called three senior aides to President Alvaro Uribe for questioning as part of its probe into illegal wiretapping of Supreme Court justices, opposition politians and other prominent public figures by the DAS security service.

Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza told RCN radio that prosecutors will question press secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, Deputy Defense Minister Jorge Mario Eastman and presidential counsel Edmundo del Castillo

Former presidential adviser Jose Obdulio Gaviria will also be quizzed.

Mendoza said the proceedings in no way imply that those individuals are linked to the investigation or that they are being accused or arrested.

Prosecutors will hear their statements and, based on that testimony, decide if there are grounds to have them charged as suspects in the illegal wiretapping and surveillance.

Officials and ex-officials of the president's office, in addition to Gaviria, have been mentioned to the AG office by DAS members.

Among other things, the investigation seeks to establish if the order for the illegal wiretaps came from the Nariño presidential palace or was a decision that some DAS officials took on their own.

DAS reports directly to the president's office.

More:
http://www.laprensasa.com/2.0/3/309/762005/America-in-English/Colombian-president-s-aides-to-be-quizzed-over-illegal-wiretaps.html