Panama will decide this month whether it will extradite Colombia’ former intelligence chief who is wanted in her home country over her alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of opponents of former President Alvaro Uribe.
Colombia wants to prosecute former DAS director Maria del Pilar Hurtado for the illegal spying on government critics and opponents conducted while she was leading the intelligence agency and, according to her peers, was masterminded by her..
Panama’s foreign minister, Roberto Henriquez, told reported that “it took the Colombian government a year to and a month to request her extradition. We are not going to rush to evaluate a case this special and complex like with this lady in a week.”
Nevertheless, the foreign minister vowed to announce the government’s decision before the end of January.
Del Pilar Hurtado fled to Panama and was granted political asylum there in November 2010, months before the Supreme Court ordered her arrest.
