Maria del Pilar Hurtado, a former director of Colombia's intelligence agency DAS who is under investigation for her role in the illegal wiretapping of government critics, requests political asylum in Panama, El Espectador reports.
Hurtado was barred on October 4 from holding public office for her role in the illegal wiretapping of opposition politicians, judges, journalists and human rights activists.
The former DAS director left Colombia before her scheduled hearing in front of the Superior Court of Bogota on November 21.
This hearing, which includes testimony by former deputy director of counterintelligence Jorge Alberto Lagos, and former intelligence chief Fernando Tabares, would have decided Hurtado's future.
