COLOMBIA’S Attorney General, on Monday October asked the Supreme Court to jail two former high ranking officials in the government of former President Alvaro Uribe for their alleged involvement in a spy ring. One of the two has been hiding in Panama since 2010 after being granted asylum by the Martinelli administration.
The request to sentence them to prison, but without specifying time, was made at a public hearing in Bogota by prosecutor Maria Victoria Parra who, told the judges of the high court, that "there is no doubt of the illegality of their actions, and much less of the criminal liability of the accused lawyers María del Pilar Hurtado and Bernardo Moreno ".
Hurtado sought asylum in Panama in late 2010 arguing that in Colombia her life was in danger and she would not receive a fair trial.
Last May, Panama’s Supreme Court overturned the asylum granted to Hurtado, she is still here.
At the time of her asylum both were charged with crimes related to espionage and conspiracy in spying on judges, activists and journalists. Hurtado, who apparently is in Panama, was the director of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) or the secret police, and Moreno was the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic.
Both have proved denied any illegality, but-ex police detective witnesses have said they obtained secret information and that President Uribe was aware of the situation. Uribe has said that if there was any irregularity in the service, it was the work of corrupt officials of that entity. So far there is no formal investigation into the case against the former President (2002-2010)
In February 2009, the Bogota magazine Semana published an article which reported that the secret service spied on the Supreme Court, journalists, members of NGOs and, in general, opponents of Uribe .