Prosecutor’s Office announces investigation into illegal wiretapping in the government

The Colombian Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation after assuring that two former employees of Laura Sarabia, President Gustavo Petro’s chief of staff, were illegally intercepted by members of Police intelligence, linking them to an investigation of a criminal and drug-trafficking gang. .

The news comes in the middle of scandal that splashes one of the officials confidence of the Colombian president, since his nanny, Marelbys Meza, told the magazine over the weekend Week who was subjected to a polygraph near the Presidential Palace, after being accused of stealing a briefcase with 7,000 dollars in the house of her boss.

On Wednesday it was also known, according to a report of the journalist Daniel Coronell for the W Radiusthat Meza was transferred to Venezuela on a charter flight by the Colombian ambassador in Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, and that the day she returned to Colombia she was interviewed by the magazine Week. Sarabia accuses Benedetti of publicizing the case to the media, while the ambassador says that he only tried to help the chief of staff.

According to prosecutor Francisco Barbosa, one of the biggest opponents of Petro and who was chosen by former president Iván Duque, the day the theft of money was reported by Sarabia, on January 30, 2023, they “invent” a report to intercept two people, including Meza.

An agent from the Colombian Police’s Judicial Investigation Directorate (Dijín), added the official, irregularly included Meza’s cell phone number in an investigation related to the Clan del Golfo, one of the largest criminal gangs in Colombia, to achieve the interception of the ex-nanny.

“They intercept, using an illegal report, from a non-formal source, they point out that Meza is the cook of alias Siopas (leader of the ‘Gulf clan’),” the prosecutor said at a press conference on Thursday. For this reason, he added she, she was baptized with the alias of ‘La Cocinera’.

And in the case of the other Sarabia employee, Mrs. Fabiola, she was characterized as being in charge of “making money transfers for her to buy food, keeping reports with information and with orders given by Commander Omar, second leader of the bloc” and she was nicknamed with the alias ‘La Madrina’.

“In Colombia there has been much talk about paramilitarism, well, welcome to parajusticia in the country,” said the official. “It is a regrettable day for the rule of law. The illegal wiretaps have returned to Colombia,” added Barbosa, referring to the interceptions.

The official indicated that the aforementioned report was signed by a police criminal investigator and that, due to the facts, all those responsible for both making the report and justifying the inclusion of the numbers in the report will be called for questioning and charges. same.

The Prosecutor’s Office cited Laura Sarabia, head of the presidential cabinet, will be questioned, while ambassador Armando Benedetti will be called to testify on the case.

The entity also said that it will investigate whether an abuse of power was committed by submitting the nanny, Marelbys Meza, to the polygraph, while Sarabia has defended herself and has ensured that the process of submitting her to this test was done legally.

Before midnight on Thursday, the Colombian president assured, through a trill, that “accusing the government of the change of illegal interceptions is so irresponsible.” He emphasized that “no member of the government has given any order for wiretapping” and that on Friday he will rule on the decisions he makes regarding the case.

The president’s message was generated after a meeting between the president, Sarabia and Benedetti, two of the most trusted officials in the Petro administration and who worked together for several years before becoming president. Since Wednesday, the president had urgently called the official to discuss the case.

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