Colombia’s foreign relations minister has confirmed that the ministry will process an extradition request for ex-DAS Director Maria del Pilar Hurtado with its Panamanian counterpart, despite resistance from the neighboring country’s president.
Minister Maria Angela Holguin stated that, “I want to be clear about the person in asylum [Hurtado]. We are going to process [the request] and we are going to see what is the reaction,” W Radio reported Wednesday.
A Colombian Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday that there are enough reasons to send the former director of Colombia’s state intelligence agency to jail while awaiting trial.
The ex-DAS director, charged for her role in the agency’s illegal wiretapping scandal that occurred under the administration of former President Alvaro Uribe, has been sheltered under political asylum in Panama since fleeing Colombia last year.
Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli has maintained that the country will not withdraw Hurtado’s political asylum even if Colombia issues an international arrest warrant.
