Cesar Gaviria | intelNews.org

Charges finally announced in Colombia wiretap scandal

August 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Alvaro Uribe

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Colombia’s chief prosecutor has finally announced criminal charges against ten former government officials accused of spying on political opponents of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. As intelNews reported in April, Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, or DAS) suffered one of the most extensive purges in its history, when 22 (later joined by 11 more) of its detectives were fired for illegally wiretapping several public figures. Those targeted by the wiretaps included the chief of the Colombian National Police, minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos, former President Cesar Gaviria, supreme court judges, prominent journalists, union leaders and human rights campaigners. Read more of this post

Filed under A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008 Tagged with Alvaro Uribe, Cesar Gaviria, Colombia, Colombian Chief Prosecutor’s Office, Colombian National Police, communications interception, DAS (Colombia), Jorge Noguera, Jose Miguel Narvaez, Juan Manuel Santos, News, political policing, surveillance, warrantless communications interception, wiretapping

More agents fired in Colombian wiretap scandal probe

June 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Juan M. Santos

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Last April, Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, or DAS) suffered one of the most extensive purges in its history, when 22 of its detectives were fired in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping against several public figures in Colombian political life. On Saturday, the scandal-plagued agency firedanother 11 of its operatives, which raises the running total of purged DAS agents to 33. Last April, intelNews reportedthat those targeted by the illegal wiretappers included Supreme Court judges, prominent journalists, as well as the chief of the Colombian National Police, former president Cesar Gaviria, and even the minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos. Read more of this post

Filed under A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008 Tagged with Cesar Gaviria, Colombia, Colombian National Police, communications interception, DAS (Colombia), Juan Manuel Santos, News, warrantless communications interception

Analysis: Major Colombian wiretap scandal explained

May 20, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Last April, Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, or DAS) suffered one of the most extensive purges in its history, when 22 of its detectives were fired in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping against several public figures in Colombian political life. Those targeted by the illegal wiretappers included Supreme Court judges, prominent journalists, as well as the chief of the Colombian National Police, former president Cesar Gaviria, and even the minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos. Investigative reporter Joseph Huff-Hanon has produced what in this writer’s opinion is the best English-language analysis of the political dimension of the Colombian wiretap scandal. Read more of this post

Filed under A specialized intelligence website written by experts, since 2008 Tagged with Alvaro Uribe, Analysis, Cesar Gaviria, Colombia, Colombian National Police, communications interception, DAS (Colombia), Joseph Huff-Hanon, Juan Manuel Santos, warrantless communications interception

Agents fired as probe into Colombian wiretap scandal continues

April 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Juan M. Santos

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, or DAS) suffered one of the most extensive purges in its history this week, when 22 of its detectives were fired in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping. Last January, the scandal-prone counterintelligence service was revealed to have engaged in systematic communications interception against several public figures in Colombian political life. Those targeted included Supreme Court judges, prominent journalists, as well as the chief of the Colombian National Police, former president Cesar Gaviria, and even the minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos. The warrantless interceptions appeared to be part of a concerted effort to discover the “vices and weaknesses” of public figures, including “details about sexual preferences”, extra-marital affairs, and liquor or drug habits. Read more of this post