Wiretapping suspects from cells house arrest

Wiretapping suspects from cells to House arrest
16th CRIMINAL court judge Enrique Perez ordered house arrest for two defendants in Panama’s wiretapping scandal, on Wednesday, August 19 gave the afternoon of Wednesday, August 1.
They are the precautionary measure of house arrest for ex National Security Council Council secretaries, Alejandro Garuz and Gustavo Perez. In the case of Garuz the measure took effect immediately, while for Perez it is still not applied as he faces other criminal proceedings for the crime of illegal possession of firearms.
Both men have been held at the El Renacer prison.
They face charges of unlawful interception of communications during the previous administration, led by Ricardo Martinelli.
The judge’s decision came on the third day of a preliminary hearing
The measure was granted at the request of defense lawyers on the grounds that the penalty is less than four years in prison.
This investigation began with the statement of protected witness identified with the number 8430145.
On Tuesday, the second day of preliminary hearing, Nahaniel Murgas, prosecutor against organized crime, said he has proof linking Perez and his subordinates Ronny Rodriguez and William (both fugitives) with wiretapping during the government of Martinelli (2009-2014).
15of the 16 complainants appeared including Mitchell Does, former general secretary of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), who took his own legal representation; and Balbina Herrera, former presidential candidate for the PRD, represented by attorney Rodolfo Pinzon.
The earing began with the statement of protected witness identified with the number 8430145, who revealed the acquisition by the National Security Council of a system which intercepted telephone conversations, emails and penetrated a device being turned off.
The witness said that within the Security Council was a dedicated team to spy on opponents of the government, members of civil society and journalists. The equipment was purchased through the National Assistance Program (PAN) since 2010. The organization was then was in charge of Giacomo Tamburrelli.
Perez when he was director of the National Police signed the letter of final acceptance of the system, with the Israeli company MLM Protection. The device cost $13.4 million.
Garuz is investigated because in a raid by the judicial authorities it was found a cell phone with an audio with the voice of a teachers’ union leader and a deputy of the National Assembly, in which details of conversations were heard.
After an analysis by experts from the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, it was found that the information had been sent found an external source. Garuz argued that the emails came to the phone but he never opened or heard them.