Jose Obdulio Gaviria
Colombia’s Prosecutor General is considering to officially investigate Jose Obdulio Gaviria, until recently the personal adviser of President Alvaro Uribe, for his alleged role in the scandal involving the illegal wiretapping of government opponents, Colombia Reports indicated on Saturday.
According to testimonies by a former counter-intelligence director of the DAS, Colombia’s intelligence service, Obdulio was informed in detail about the ongoing investigation against Supreme Court magistrates.
The investigation into the magistrates started when the DAS found out controversial businessman Ascencio Reyes seemed to be close to some of the Supreme Court’s magistrates and allegedly was also linked to drug organizations.
But after a while, the intelligence agency spent more time and manpower on the wiretapping and shadowing of magistrates than it did on the actual prime suspect. It is unclear to what extend the orders to focus more on the Court and less on the alleged criminal came from the Presidency and why the House of Representatives’ Accusation Commission, the only body allowed to investigate the judicial branch, was not informed on the suspicion.
The Prosecutor General is also investigating Press Secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, Uribe’s personal secretary Bernardo Moreno, presidential assistant Jorge Mario Eastman and three former DAS directors for the wiretapping.
The testimony of Jorge Lagos, former DAS director
According to the testimony of former DAS director, the department of intelligence services was leading an investigation against businessman Ascensio Reyes, a man with a great influence in the Supreme Court of Justice, according to Lagos. DAS also discovered that Reyes had links to drug traffickers. In June 2006, he did a homage in Neiva to magistrate Yesid Ramírez for his nomination as president of the high tribunal with the assistance of other judges. Lagos said that Jose Obdulio Gaviria knew the details of such investigation as other government officials like César Mauricio Velásquez, Bernardo Moreno and Jorge Mario Eastman besides DAS officials such as María del Pilar Hurtado who was at the time the DAS director, Fernando Tabares and Jorge Lagos.
Gaviria denies
The center of discussion is therefore over the knowledge of the former presidential adviser and other officials close to the president, on the case of espionage of DAS on magistrates, journalists and leaders of the opposition.
On May, Gaviria denied any knowledge in an interview to La FM, a broadcasting station that published some tapes proving the unlawful interceptions by DAS agents on political leaders of the opposition, magistrates and journalists. Gaviria answered in the interview that such interceptions “do not exist.”
He denied also in May the reports of RCN Noticias of the testimony of former captain Jorge Lagos to the General Procurator. In such report, Lagos declared that he gave to Jose Obdulio Gaviria and to Bernardo Moreno information about magistrates. He denied also the accusation of opposition leader Gustavo Pietro who said that Gaviria got confidential information from his office through Jorge Lagos. He denied that there were meetings of DAS agents with officials and that such statements are only a persecution mounted by journalists and the he was going to sue them before the Procurator for defamation.
“En el momento oportuno presentaré denuncia penal contra periodistas quienes combinaron una campaña terrible y que merecen ser castigados por las autoridades”.
“At due time I will sue journalists, who orchestrated a terrible campaign and who are worthy to be punished by the authorities“, he said to La FM.
Prosecutor General
The Prosecutor General has been prudent at the time to disclose the name of the former presidential adviser, José Obdulio Gaviria, in the scandal of DAS espionage against magistrates, journalists and leaders of the opposition, although his name has been mentioned by the first testimonies of, for example, former captain Lagos.
The first legal actions in the investigation of the unlawful operations of the department of security and intelligence, opened files for three officials of the presidency, two former directors and two DAS agents for the unlawful interception of phone calls to magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, the leaders of the opposition parties, journalists and other Colombian personalities.
The question remains: Why were the phone calls intercepted in an illegal way? Why following those persons? Who ordered such espionage? Who knew it? The investigation will take time to give answers.
Interview of newspaper El Tiempo to former presidential adviser José Obdulio Gaviria:
What do you think about the unlawful phone call interceptions?
“It is my norm that any interception out of any legal order is a crime. A crime… that is the word. As for the one who orders it, the one who makes it, the one that reproduces it and especially the one who publishes it. That is my great difference with Semana Magazine because there is a difference in ethics and a legal principles.”
Are you the Colombian Montesinos?
“First, there are a lot ignorance. Montesinos is the biggest Latin American criminal of the 20th century and maybe of the 21rst. All crimes are attributable to him. Say any action or omission of José Obdulio Gaviria that violets the law.”
Are you responsible for your actions?
“A question that is not made by the Colombian people [themselves], because they know that President Uribe is shielded from their fabrications and infamies, then… they try to make us victims of their fabrications and infamies [somebody who is] a little weaker [then they are].”
Who could the order be given from Government?
“I am sure, I am absolutely sure, that nobody has given instructions to illegal wiretap personalities personalities that… has been a function on the judicial branch. And I have to say further, that the fight that the government of president Uribe has given against criminality is against criminals and no against leaders of the opposition or members of the branch of the public power.”
Who would be interested in following the magistrates?
“it seems like a plot against the same executive [branch]. What is one of the reasons argued by the Farc in its documents where I am mentioned regularly? Because every red path seems to have its Fujimori and in the case of Colombia they would like to create it, because it does not exist here.”
Do you want to say that there is a “Sendero Luminoso-like” that want to create a “Fujimori”…?
“They would like to do so! In order to justify its existence. The justification of the existence of the Farc would be the existence of a tyranny in Colombia. The fact that Colombia would not be a democracy, then to be in arms against a tyrannic regime, would be the justification for their existence.”
Are you afraid on any judicial investigation against you?
“All my actions and all my omissions in the advisory to the president of the Republic, were strictly and carefully attached to the law.”