BOGOTA (TrustLaw) - Ever since Colombia’s leading news magazine broke a story about alleged illegal wiretapping by the country’s secret police more than two years ago, the scandal has continued to create unease among government officials and dominate local headlines.
The eavesdropping affair also caught the attention of jurors of the Latin American Award on Investigative Journalism who awarded journalists from the weekly news magazine, La Semana, the top prize earlier this week.
The winning series of reports, the result of a six-month long investigation by Semana journalists based on classified information provided by agents from the state intelligence agency, known as DAS, claimed agents were intercepting the phone calls of prominent opposition members, top judges, and well-known journalists during the previous government of Alvaro Uribe. Many of those who were allegedly spied on where known critics of the Uribe government.
“The press is one of the most important counter-powers to a political regime. Our investigation demonstrates that political powers, even in a democracy like Colombia, need checks and balances,” Alejandro Santos, director of La Semana magazine, told TrustLaw.
“It shows that the (Colombian) government made DAS into a political police like the KGB in Russia during the Cold War,” he added.
The telephone bugging accusations reported in La Semana magazine – described in Colombia as the country’s version of Watergate - forced a former chief of the intelligence agency to resign and prompted the attorney general and public prosecutor to open investigations.
Several ministers and other high-ranking government officials who served under the Uribe government are under the spotlight. As yet, no one has been prosecuted.
The scandal also prompted the Uribe government to look into the possibility of disbanding and restructuring the troubled state intelligence agency.
<B>INTIMIDATION</B>
For Santos and his team of four journalists, reporting on their investigations brought threats and attempts to discredit the publication.
“We received threats and we were followed. Our communications were intercepted. It was really hard to investigate,”saidSantos.
“The government tried unsuccessfully to convince sectors of society that we (La Semana) were being manipulated by corrupt sources in DAS. Our credibility was at stake,” he added.
Questions continue to be raised in the local media and among Colombia’s opposition about who gave the order for intelligence agents to eavesdrop on telephone conversations without special court orders.
Some point the finger of blame at Uribe, who left office last month after his second four-year term ended. Uribe has denied the claims and has said his government was unaware of the wire tapping campaign.
Opposition leaders say the new government of Juan Manuel Santos must explain who ordered the illegal wiretaps, who benefited from them and hold those responsible accountable.
La Semana magazine continues its investigations into the wire tapping scandal.
The award is given annually by anti corruption watchdog Transparency International and the Press and Society Institute.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
