President Luis Lacalle Pou confirmed this Thursday that Marcelo Franquez, a policeman who was part of the Presidential Security service, has been displaced after appearing in a conversation with the former head of custody, Alexander Astesianoin which he offered data to intervene the telephones of students and teachers of high school 41 in Montevideo.
“Yes, we moved it”declared President Lacalle Pou, who asserted that he found out about this through the press, and not from within the government. “We proceeded immediately. We take your statement and send it to the Prosecutor’s Office”, added the right-wing president.
The departure of Franquez from presidential security was adopted by the Ministry of the Interior on February 6 and was announced by The Observer, but no mention was made of these facts. Franquez stopped serving in presidential security and returned to work at the Montevideo Police Headquarters, “reintegrating into his original unit.”
The chat, which you accessed The Daily and he made it public knowledge, it shows Franquez offering Astesiano the phone numbers of high school teachers and students to be tapped. After meeting with the National Federation of Secondary Teachers (Fenapes), the PIT-CNT announced that they will request urgent meetings with the Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay (INAU), the Education Council (Codicen), the Human Rights Commission of Deputies and the court prosecutor, Juan Gómez.
Other displaced hierarchs
The Ministry of the Interior has decided to take drastic measures in the police leadership. As reported by Telenoche and confirmed by political sources, the director of the National Police, Diego Fernández, and the executive director, Jorge Berriel, will be removed from their posts and replaced as of March 1.
The deputy director of the National Police, Héctor Ferreira, resigned from his position in December. Fernández and Berriel are being investigated for the Astesiano case, which involves the former head of presidential security, Alejandro Astesiano.
