Cortizo denies  Martinelli claim of illegal wiretapping in current  administration

“In my administration, you don’t listen outside of court orders, they have not happened and they will not happen.”  Said President Laurentino Cortizo, when asked by media about recent statements made by former president Ricardo Martinelli, t In my administration there has not been and will not be [wiretapping]. I want it to be clear, ”said Cortizo, after Martinelli pointed directly to the vice president, José Gabriel Carrizo, of supposedly being behind actions of this type.

“On the issue of illegal wiretapping, I can assure the country that this is not an issue for our administration,” he replied.

Cortizo added that, when it comes to fighting crime, intelligence is important. “You cannot fight organized crime without intelligence, that is extremely important,” but he denied that his administration devotes efforts and resources “to listen to people outside of court orders.”

Regarding the trial of Martinelli -which entered its fifth day on Tuesday-, Cortizo said that “it is a matter of justice and I am very respectful of the powers of the State.”

In the illegal wiretapping case, two former directors of the CSN in the Martinelli government – Alejandro Garúz and Gustavo Pérez – have already been sentenced to 5 years in prison. According to investigations, in the last two years of the Martinelli administration, the communications of up to 150 people were illegally eavesdropped, using CSN personnel and equipment.

Elvis Ortiz , a former member of the National Security Council (CSN) in the 2009-2014 period, appeared on Tuesday as a witness for the prosecution in the Martinelli trial

Ortiz, who was head of the Department of Public Order Analysis of the CSN, said that he was called to be part of training in tracking technology, which was carried out in building 150 of Quarry Heights, headquarters of the entity.

He said out that Israeli technology was used, targeting political leaders and workers. However, he indicated that the use of this software was not used anymore as it was tedious.

Training, was given by Israeli specialists, to Ronny Rodríguez (then deputy director of the CSN), in addition to agents William Pittí and Ismael Pittí.