Bogotá, February 26 (SP). “I would like to communicate this decision, trough the media, to all my compatriots: the DAS have been legally competent to make wiretapping, with a previous court order.

Las night we took a decision and this morning we were implementing it with the Defense Ministry, the Police and all the forces; it goes this way: from today the DAS will not be directly competent to make wiretapping with a court order, not on mobiles nor on land lines.

In any case, from now on when an interception must be needed, besides a court order, it must be done with the National Police and, exceptionally, with another institution of our Security Forces. 

There are several questions.

Current processes. The DAS Director must coordinate with the General Oscar Naranjo, Director of the National Police, to see how these current processes, with the proper court authorizations, are going to fit in this new procedure. This means that these processes are going to the Police to continue with its course.

A second question, well, but almost two years ago there was a problem with some recordings at The National Police… We answer that question like this: The National Police has been making all kind of efforts to modify the problem that was detected at that time.

Also, we think that when an Intelligence Agency as the DAS see the need for evidence, has the legal support and goes to another institution like the Police, the Police has the obligation to verify that the DAS, as the institution who ask for the evidence, have all the legal requirements for this. And the DAS is not going to submit a non complete request to the Police.

That is the intervention of the two institutions: one who asks for evidence, the DAS, and the other who accepts the request and makes the verification, The Police, that way they control each other.  

There is a third question: then, inter institutional intelligence is going to be eliminated? The answer is the following: historically there has been a supportive position for intelligence procedures made individually by each competent institution. One can be make intelligence to the other, complement each other, but that also brings problems, problems of rivalry and corruption.

We believe that the unification of the intelligence, could take us not only to absolute transparency, but also to full efficiency.

There is another question: a country that needs intelligence equipments is not going to use the DAS equipments? No way, all of the DAS equipments are going to still be used, always with a court order and from now on, operated by the National Police. It will be the Police the one that operates according to request from the DAS, to be able to proceed with the evidence.

I wanted to give you this information. Approximately at 3:00pm the Director of the DAS, Mr. Felipe Muñoz, will give you journalist, an advance about the investigations that are taking place since the allegations about illegal wiretapping.

Also, dear journalists, we will continue with the reform process of the DAS. This government has reformed 411 State institutions. You know that Mr. Andrés Peñate, second director of the DAS, had an assessor committee to the reformation of the DAS, we are going to enter to a new period of changes of this institution, one of the deepest reforms that we have announced today, and we will continue with this process.  

I thank you all. Around 3:00pm the DAS Director is going to give you an advance of the situation of the investigations.

I apologize for not accepting questions, but I just wanted to tell the country, trough you, this decision about procedures that involves wiretapping.