Former Senate president gets house arrest for wiretapping involvement

[Judi Lynn]

Former Senate president gets house arrest for wiretapping involvement
Wednesday, 25 May 2011 12:20
Tom Heyden

Former Colombian Senate President Nancy Patricia Gutierrez has been placed under house arrest for apparently using illegally acquired DAS information against former Senator Piedad Cordoba, local media reported Wednesday.

Gutierrez, who is under simultaneous investigation for "para-politics," is alleged to have been involved in the illegal surveillance of former Senator Piedad Cordoba by Colombia's intelligence agency DAS.

The former Senate president apparently used the illegally collected information to advance FARC-politics accusations in Congress against Cordoba, who was subsequently dismissed from the Senate for alleged FARC ties and banned from holding office for 18 years by Inspector General Alejandro Ordoñez.

Gutierrez has protested that she was not trying to use illegally obtained information, and was merely attempting to unearth information about Cordoba's foreign trips, particularly one visit to Mexico, to clarify whether she had followed the protocols required for absence from plenary Senate sessions.

More:
http://www.colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/16515-former-senate-president-gets-house-arrest-for-wiretapping-involvement.html