Social Welfare Minister Diego Palacio en former Interior and Justice
Minister Sabas Pretelt de la Vega deny having anything to do with the
bribery of former congresswoman Yidis Medina to secure the 2006
re-election of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.
Friday the Attorney General charged Palacio with interfering with the investigation and Pretelt with having recommended former congressman Teodolindo Avendaño for jobs within the public administration. Avendaño is currently being investigated by the prosecution for bribery. Medina already is convicted for having accepted bribes.
Palacio denied having disclosed classified court information about Medina to allow President Uribe accuse her of pressuring his son. “When I told the phone number given by Yidis Medina I did not violate anything, because that information was given to the entire public,” he told Caracol Radio.
Pretelt de la Vega, current ambassador to Rome, denied having recommended Avendaño for jobs, because those jobs didn’t exist in 2004 when the alleged bribery took place.
Both Palacio and Pretelt are also being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office for their alleged part in the bribery of the lawmakers.
